Clouded memories
by Sailorme120
Summary: After the battle between Sasuke and Itachi, Itachi is left for dead. But when a young girl finds him and nurses him back to health, Itachi finds that the only thing he can remember is his name. Now with little to go on Itachi searches for his past.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Yori walked cheerfully along the unmarked path through the forest. She had walked this path thousands of times since she was a small child, but it always somehow made her feel at peace with herself.

"Yori! Don't get ahead of Shouta and I!" Her father, Yamasuki-san, called out to her in a deep, strong, yet kind voice.

"Hai, Otou-san!" Yori yelled back to her father and younger brother, smiling like always. However she wasn't one for listening to her fathers warning. She knew this forest better than the town she had grown up in, so she never waited for her father when they made their trips through it.

As she made her way further up this familiar path she realized that something seemed a bit off. The trees in the area were knocked down, completely broken in half. The ones left standing were burnt and cut up. Nothing seemed as peaceful as it should have. It was quite obvious a battle had gone on here, and a brutal one at that.

Horrified, Yori stood taking it all in. What had happened, she wondered. Why would a fight this intense happen in such a place?

After a deep breath to calm her nerves, she continued forward, cautiously as to not accidentally run into anyone who happened to still be there.

As she approached a large fallen tree, she heard something strange coming from behind it. It was the sound of death, the gargle you hear as you cut through someone with a sword. A sound that she had hoped she would never hear.

Dropping all hesitation, she ran to see where the noise was coming from. There, lying on the ground drenched in blood, was a young man, probably no older than 20. His only distinguishing features were his shoulder length black hair, and the tattered black robe he wore.

Yori's green eyes went wide as she knelt down beside him to see if he was still alive. He lay on his stomach, not moving, not breathing, and not making a sound. She quickly rolled him onto his back and put her ear to his chest. There she heard a relieving sound. Thump, thump. A feint heart beat rang through her ears.

"Otou-san! Hurry!" She yelled out, knowing her father couldn't be too far behind.

Yamasuki-san ran as fast as he could to her side, his son trailing behind with the medicine they were traveling to sell.

"What's wrong Yori?" Yamasuki-san called out, panting.

"He's still alive!" Yori yelled back, lifting the young mans head off the ground.

Yamasuki-san didn't hesitate. He was a doctor after all, and their priority was to heal the sick and wounded.

"Shouta!" Yamasuki yelled back to his son. "Bring me my things!"

The young boy did exactly what his father said. "Father, we don't even know this man. What if--"

Before the 13 year old boy could finish speaking, his father snatched the bag of medicinal tools out of his hand and began to rifle through it, searching for exactly what he needed.

Without even thinking, Yamasuki-san ripped the young mans cloak and shirt off, to reveal a huge bloody wound to the chest. How anyone could have possibly survived it was beyond him. But it was not his to question why a person survived, just to make sure that they did.

Yori and Shouta both watched in awe, as their father worked frantically with the limited tools he had to stop the bleeding, and to get the young man to breathe again. They had both seen their father work many times before, but it was always amazing at how calm and collected he remained throughout everything he did.

After a long, challenging ordeal, Yamasuki-san took a long deep breath followed by a swig of sake straight from the bottle. Yori smiled knowing that this meant the man would be ok.

"It looks like we will have to postpone our trip. This man needs rest. We have to get him back home." Yori's father explained as he stood up. "Shouta..."

Shouta nodded, he didn't need anymore explanation. He quickly bent down and picked up the young man, carrying him on his back. Although Shouta was still technically just a kid, he was strong and already taller than his 19 year old sister. His father had been training him in kenjutsu since he was a child, and it had paid off substantially.

"Otou-san, can we really afford to not take our trip?" Shouta asked, as the small group made their way back to their small town in the country of wind.

"We'll make do, Shouta."

Shouta didn't argue with his father's decision. The rest of the walk home, he kept quiet, simply holding the stranger they had saved and wishing things had gone a little differently.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

His vision was hazy as the young man opened his eyes. He blinked a few times and they cleared, but not completely. Of course, they would never clear completely.

He attempted to sit up but the moment his head left the pillow the world began to spin. He grunted and quickly lay back down.

Turning his head from side to side, he examined what he could with minimal movement. The room was small and bright from the many windows that surrounded it and the pristine white walls. This was obviously the home of a middle class family, not rich, not poor, just living a simple life and getting by.

Once again he attempted to sit up, this time much slower so his head didn't begin to spin again. As soon as he reached a sitting position he felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest. Instinctively he let out a cry and clutched where the pain was coming from.

As soon as it subsided he began to realize what was going on. Some how, he had been injured and someone had brought him here to be treated. He couldn't remember anything. His mind was almost a complete blank. The only thing he could remember was his name, Uchiha Itachi.

The sliding door to the room slid open, and a young, petite girl stood there, holding a tray of bandages, ointments, and water.

Her emerald eyes stared at him for a moment, taking in exactly what she was seeing. After a moment, a pleasant smile warmed her face. "You're awake!" She said pleased.

Itachi didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Did he know her? Were they related somehow? Is she the one who was taking care of him? All kinds of questions ran through his head. He hoped that maybe she could answer them.

The girl entered the tiny room and knelt down beside him, placing the tray next to the futon he had been laying on. "How are you feeling?"

Itachi stared at her with confused, onyx eyes. "I…I'm sore. But ok."

"That's good. I came to change the dressing on your wounds. If you don't mind that is. I guess I couldn't really ask the other times I had done it since you were unconscious. But now I think it's only polite if I do."

Itachi simply stared at the rambling girl. She was obviously nervous around him, which made him believe that they were not related and probably didn't know each other that well. "Are you a doctor?"

The young girl looked up at him and giggled. "No no, I'm just helping my father. He's the doctor. But I'd like to be a doctor one day."

Itachi nodded and bent over to move the blankets away from him. But again, the sharp pain shot through him and he cried out in agony.

The girl immediately caught him from doubling over, putting a gentle hand on his chest. "You shouldn't move too much. You've been seriously injured, you're lucky to be alive."

Itachi regained his composure and gingerly straightened up. "What…what's your name?" He asked hestitanly.

The girl began to unwrap Itachi's old bandages as she answered him. "Yamasuki Yori. What's yours?"

"Uchiha…Itachi." He answered uncertainly. The name at this point meant nothing to him. Telling it to her was merely a formality.

"Itachi-san huh? Well, it's nice to meet you." Yori said, still smiling like always.

"Where…where am I?" Itachi asked confused.

Yori pulled back her long black hair, washed her hands in the water she had brought with her, and dipped her fingers into a bowl of green ointment. "You're in a town in the country of wind." She explained while she rubbed the strange substance on the gaping wound on his chest.

The ointment stung as it touched the open wound, making Itachi cringe. He looked down to see what she was doing, only to be shocked at the huge healing wound on his chest.

"I'm sorry if it stings. But this way you know it's working, right?" Yori said cheerfully.

"What happened?"

With those words Yori's smile washed away from her face. "You mean, you don't remember?"

Itachi simply shook his head. His memory was completely failing him. He had no idea what had happened to him.

"Well, I don't really know myself." Yori began to explain while wrapping fresh bandages around his chest. "All I know is my family and I were walking through the forest, headed over to the next town to sell medicine, when we found you laying on the ground very near death."

"I see." Itachi replied disappointedly. Somehow he knew what had happened was something he was never meant to live through. And now he couldn't even remember what it was.

"Itachi-san." Yori's smile returned to her face as she sat back, kneeling next to his bed.

Itachi looked at her with sad eyes. She was so willing to help him and she didn't even know who he was. Although he could remember nothing about his past, he knew he didn't deserve this kindness.

"Don't look so sad. I'm sure you'll remember everything eventually." She wrapped her hands around his and gave him a very warm smile.

For some reason Itachi honestly believed her at that moment. "You're right."

Yori rose to her feet, grabbing the tray she had brought in with her. "You must be hungry. I'll go get you something to eat."

Itachi hadn't thought about it before, but his stomach was growling. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days. Of courses, he may not have. He hadn't asked how long he had been unconscious.

"Wait." Itachi cried out, stopping Yori before she left.

"What is it?"

Itachi began to slowly attempt to stand up. He didn't want to be waited on hand and foot. He hated the fact this girl, who didn't even know his name before now, was treating him like he was royalty. "I'll come with you."

Yori quickly sat her tray back down and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "No! You have to rest. You're too weak to get up and walk now."

"I'll…be fine." He grunted out as he finally made it to his feet.

"You men are all alike!" Yori said jokingly. "You're not well. You need to just lie down."

Itachi glared up at her. Not so much with hatred or anger, but with annoyance from her persistence. "I told you I'll be fine."

"Fine. If you insist on getting up then at least let me get you a crutch." Yori slowly let go of the young injured man and made sure he could stand on his own. She ran out of the room, but promptly returned with a make shift crutch made out of wood and cloth.

Itachi slid the crutch under his right arm and propped himself up. It was actually helpful, but he wasn't going to admit that.

The two of them slowly walked out of the room, Itachi more hobbling than walking, and made their way down a long outdoor walkway, to another room, where the smell of steamed vegetables and rice was pouring out.

Yori slid open the door to reveal an already prepared meal waiting on a small table on the floor, and two men sitting, gorging themselves on rice.

"Otou-san! You were supposed to wait for me!" Yori hollered at the two men.

"You were taking too long!" The younger of the two men, really just a boy, with short brown hair yelled back, his speech muffled by a mouth full of rice.

"Well excuse me! I'm sorry I have to do everything around here!" Yori yelled.

Itachi hobbled up behind her, and peered down at the three people arguing with each other.

"Oh! I see our patient is awake!" Yamasuki-san said gleefully.

"Yes, and he insisted that he be able to come do things on his own." Yori placed her hands on her hips and shook her head in disapproval.

"Have a seat you two!" The older man instructed.

The two youths took a seat on the floor, Itachi gingerly lowering himself down next to the table.

"You gave us quite a scare!" Yamasuki explained.

"I'm very sorry to have caused you any trouble." Itachi answered, bowing his head.

"Nonsense, I'm a doctor! Curing people is what I do!"

Yori continued her smile, as if it were impossible for her not to. She scooped up a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks and placed them in front of Itachi. "We also have a very good vegetable soup if you'd like some."

"This is fine, thank you." Itachi did not want to impose on these people.

"Don't be ridiculous! Have some! That's what we made it for!" Yori's father insisted as he poured a bowl and put it in front of Itachi.

Itachi once again bowed his head as he picked up his chopsticks and the bowl of rice. For a few minutes he ate silently, not wanting to insult the family by doing, or saying anything foolish.

"So, what is your name young man?" Yamasuki-san asked.

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Uchiha…I think I've heard that name before. I'm not sure from where though." Shouta added.

"It does sound kind of familiar. Where are you from?" Yamasuki asked.

Itachi paused for a moment, dismayed that he didn't have an answer for them.

"Itachi-san can't remember anything except his name." Yori explained.

"I see. Well then, we'll just have to take care of him until he figures out where he's going!" Yori's father said, then shoved even more rice into his mouth.

"That's really not necessary. You've already done enough for me. I don't even know how I'm going to repay my debt to you."

The whole family stopped and stared at him. Here he was injured and suffering from a major case of amnesia and he was worried about repaying them.

Yamasuki-san sighed and put down his chopsticks. "You just need to be concerned with getting better."

"No, I insist you let me do something to repay you."

The family knew they were not going to win this argument, but aside from house chores there wasn't much for him to do.

"Are you any good with a weapon?" Shouta finally stepped in.

"Shouta! You can't make him do that!" Yori scolded.

"I'm just asking. Maybe once he's better he can help us with our runs. Even if he can't fight, we can always use an extra hand in carrying the cargo."

"Hmm, Shouta has a point." Yamasuki-san agreed. "Then it's settled. Once you are well enough you can help us out with our medicine runs."

Itachi bowed, it was becoming a habit of his now. "Thank you. I'll be glad to help in anyway I can."

Yamasuki san and Yori both smiled at him, amused by his over polite nature. Shouta however wasn't so sure of this man. He wasn't quite as trusting as the rest of his father and found it hard to just take the word of a stranger.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay for chapter 2! I'm really being picky about this fic. I think I wrote this chapter like 4 times before I was satisfied. Anyway, hope you like it. If you do let me know!

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Chapter 2

Two weeks had gone by, and Itachi's wound was healing at a very good rate. He no longer hobbled when he walked nor did he need the crutch. Although it still stung a bit sometimes, his injury was nearly gone.

As for his memory, nothing seemed to be coming to him. His entire past was just a haze. However, he did have one clue. Every night he would wake drenched in sweat and panting from a reoccurring nightmare. In the dream he would always see a young boy crying and a hundred corpses lying about. He would look down at his hands, only to find that they were drenched in blood. And when he would look back up, that same little boy that had been crying would come rushing towards him, his eyes filled with hate, and run him through with a blue blade. It was always after that that Itachi would wake up, horrified by what he had just seen. He wasn't sure what the dream meant, but he was sure it had something to do with his past.

This night of course was no different. With a gasp Itachi shot awake, sitting up, clutching the warm linen blankets. His heart was pounding from the scene that had just taken place in his mind. The sweat was beading up on his forehead and running down his face. He cradled his head in his left hand, running his fingers through sweat soaked black hair, as he caught his breath.

_Why? _He thought. _Who is that boy and why does he hate me? What does any of this mean?_

He drew in another long deep breath then threw the covers off of him and stood up. Staggering to the door, he slid it open and made his way to the steps that sat just outside his room. The fresh air was calming to his nerves.

Gazing up towards the sky, he saw the bright full moon shining directly down upon him. It made the night sky glow, and the stars around it fade into the distance. For some reason this made him feel strange, like it meant something to him. But once again he had no idea at all what exactly that something was.

"Itachi-san?" A tender quiet voice called out from behind him.

Turning around, Itachi saw the young girl, Yori, standing behind him rubbing her eyes with one hand, and holding a lantern with the other. The fact she was wrapped in a white cotton Kimono with her long black hair flowing down her shoulders and her smile just as peaceful as ever, made her seem rather angelic. An innocence that Itachi welcomed.

"I'm sorry if I woke you." He said, turning his gaze back up to the sky.

"It's not a problem. I'm just a very light sleeper." Yori explained as she sat down next to him.

Again Itachi felt that he was causing nothing but trouble for these people. He had been helping as much as he could around the house, but even with that he still felt it was simply not enough.

"Is something wrong?" Yori asked, concern filling her voice.

Itachi shook his head then rested it between his knees. "No, I just had another nightmare."

"The same one as before?"

"Yeah."

The look on Itachi's face showed just how disturbing it really was. Yori placed a hand on his back and leaned over to look him in the eyes.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Just your mind thinking the worst."

Itachi met her eyes, a frown still displayed across his face. "I hope you're right."

"I am. Trust me." Yori assured him with a sweet smile.

Itachi carefully stood up and let out a heavy sigh. "You should go back to bed. It's late."

Yori stood up beside him and put her hands on her hips. "Look who's talking! And who are you to tell me to go to bed?"

Itachi was speechless. He hadn't meant to be so harsh. He was just dealing with way too much and was over tired. "I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

Punching him lightly on the shoulder, Yori stuck out her tongue and grinned. "I'm just joking around. You could stand to lighten up a bit."

"I'm sorry. I'm just over tired. I'm going back to bed." Itachi withdrew into his room without another word.

The smile on Yori's face was suddenly replaced by a frown. She had been caring for Itachi since he had come into their home and yet he still seemed so distant, so lost. She wanted more than anything to help him, but she knew there was really nothing she could do.

"Goodnight." She said softly through his door and then made her way back to her own room.

Itachi felt bad for being so cold to her. But how was he supposed to act kind when he was going crazy inside. His whole world was missing. Now this family was all he knew, but he didn't even really know them. And the question of who that young boy in his dream was still haunting him.

_His eyes were just so cruel, so frightened. _Itachi thought as he rested his head on his pillow. _What did I do to him? Who am I?_

Itachi drifted into a more peaceful sleep this time. His mind completely void of dreams and memories. The only image running through his head was that of Yori's angelic smile. It gave him peace when all he felt was turmoil.


	3. Chapter 3

Man I really am being picky about this. I actually rewrote this chapter 3 times before I was satisfied. But here it is. Chapter 3! Hope you like it!

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Chapter 3

The sun shone directly into Itachi's room, beating down on his face as he stirred from his dead sleep. He had no idea what time it was, but he was sure it was early.

Tossing the covers to the side, Itachi crawled out of bed and slowly slid open the door. He could hear in the distance someone humming. He stepped out, shielding his eyes from the sun, and got his bearings.

Out in the yard in front of him was Yori, humming and happily hanging up the laundry to dry. As always she was smiling, enjoying life. In the past two weeks he had discovered that she was probably the most upbeat person he'd ever meet. Everything had a positive side, including Itachi's memory loss.

"Itachi-san! Did you finally get some sleep?" She asked, noticing him standing in the doorway scanning the area.

"Yes." He answered as he made his way down the steps.

"Good." Yori said, still as cheery as ever.

"Do you need help with that?" Itachi asked.

Yori shook her head as she pinned up a large black and red cloak. "Nope. This was the last thing. I mended and washed it for you."

Itachi honestly hadn't even known the long flowing garment was his. The whole time he had been here he had been living in an oversized shirt that Yamasuki san had leant him and a pair of sweat pants that they had found him in.

Making his way down the steps, Itachi's eyes lingered on the piece of clothing. Somehow seeing it there before him, blowing in the wind, made vague images of dark figures all wearing the same coat flash through his mind.

"This was mine?" He asked as he rubbed the cloth between his fingers.

"Um, yeah. You were wearing it when we found you, but my father had to rip it off to get to your wound. Unfortunately the shirt you had on was pretty much done for." Yori explained watching him examine the cloak.

"Was there anything else with me?" Itachi questioned half to himself.

"No, this was it." Yori said dismissingly.

"Oh," Itachi said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

The look on the young mans face made Yori's heart sink. Again, he looked so lost. She only wished she could do more to help him find his way.

"How are you feeling? There's still no pain or anything, right?" Yori changed the subject.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better." Itachi answered distantly.

Ignoring the fact that Itachi wasn't completely into the conversation Yori pressed on. "Good. Do you think you'd be up to going to the market with me today? I have to pick up a few things and I hate going alone."

This managed to break Itachi away from the images in his mind and bring him back to reality. "The market?" He asked turning his attention to Yori.

"Uh huh. Normally Shouta would go with me, but he's training and I thought it might be good for you to get out of the house." Yori explained with a pleasant smile stretched across her face.

Since he had been there, Itachi had not left the house at all. Because he was injured and the fact that he didn't really know his way around the town he hadn't really had the option of leaving.

"Why don't you like to go by yourself?" Itachi asked.

"Well, it's not that this place is unsafe or anything, although occasionally you do run into a bad egg. But really I just like the company."

"I don't know if I'll be any help to you. But I'll go." Itachi finally answered as he started to walk away.

"Itachi-san." Yori called out to him.

Itachi didn't stop and didn't reply. He wasn't in the mood for talking.

"What will you do…when you find out who you are?" Yori asked, taking a step forward.

Those words made Itachi freeze. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He had thought about it a million times. But really he wasn't sure what he would do. Part of him was even afraid to find out. That same part of him was the part that constantly told him he wasn't going to like what he would find. And despite all this pondering, he still didn't have an answer.

"Well?" Yori urged.

Itachi turned back around, facing the young woman, only to find that once again he had caused her smile to disappear. "Does it matter? I'm a stranger to you. You know just as little about me as I do."

The words stung Yori a bit. For whatever reason, she was having a hard time getting through to Itachi that the fact he was a stranger meant nothing to her.

"It's true, you are a stranger. But I know that everything happens for a reason. You were meant to come to us, I know it. I don't believe in coincidences, Itachi-san. It wasn't just luck that a Doctor's daughter just happened to stumble upon you as you lay dying in the middle of a forest. Something wanted us to find you. Everything that happens has a purpose." She explained with a hint of frustration in her voice.

Speechless, Itachi looked at the girl completely baffled. How could anybody have such a kind heart? If he were in her place he would not be so giving.

Moments past before Itachi let out a sigh, softening his expression. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so cold. Forgive me."

Once again Yori's smile returned. With a few more steps forward, she stood in front of him, gazing into his eyes. For some reason she found them mesmerizing. They were so deep that she could get lost in them. It was as if something was missing, like somehow there was more to them that she just couldn't see.

Brushing a piece of hair out of the way, Yori placed a gentle hand on his cheek. "I know you're lost, and you feel like no matter how hard you try you simply can't find your way, but just know that you're not alone."

It surprised him how calming her touch was. It made him feel at peace. For the moment he didn't need to find his past because the present was good enough.

Hesitantly, Itachi brought up his hand to meet hers. Without even knowing, he closed his eyes and reveled in the warmth of her touch, pressing his cheek into her hand.

Slowly Yori pulled her hand from his as she found herself blushing. Immediately she shifted her gaze to the ground, attempting to hide her flushed cheeks with the long strands of hair that framed her face.

Having lost himself for a moment, Itachi found it a shock when the heat from her hand left his face. His eyes shot open then he looked down at her, watching her sad attempt to hide her blushing face.

The world was beginning to feel whole again. Time was slowing down. Itachi reached out and touched her chin, raising her face to meet his eyes. Without trying they felt themselves being drawn to one another.

Yori's heart was racing. She hadn't meant for this to happen. Although she found the sullen man attractive, she had never imagined this. She had never intended this. But now she found that she wanted it.

Their lips drew closer now, Itachi guiding Yori towards him with the gentlest touch he could manage. Yori placed a hand on his chest. She knew he was toned, but it came as a surprise to her to find just how firm it really was.

Yori ran her hand up his well toned chest, taking in the feel of the fabric with her fingers as it clung to his skin. She could feel his strength just by touching him. It made her wonder just who he really was. What had he seen in his life?

As she reached the point of his injury she could feel the bump of the newly forming scar. It startled her a bit, the sudden change in texture. Her hand jumped off his body, but quickly replaced itself to continue its searching. All the while they became closer and closer together.

Itachi could now feel the heat of the woman's breath against his lips. Her breathing was shallow and had a slight tremble to it. She was nervous and it was very obvious. But honestly, although he showed no physical signs of it, he found himself nervous as well. He didn't know if he had ever felt this before so to him it was like the first time.

Their lips were nearly touching now as they both closed their eyes. This was not something either of them ever imagined happening, and now it was as if nothing could stop them.

"Yori." A strong voice called out from the distance.

Yori's eyes shot open to see that Itachi's had done the same. They were standing, centimeters away from each other, wondering what had just happened.

"Yori!" The voice was closer now and sounded a little sterner.

Panicked and confused Yori jumped and pushed herself away from Itachi. Her heart was now in her throat. She quickly adjusted herself, not that anything had really moved, and stood waiting for the owner of that voice to come.

"Yori, I've been calling you for the last five minutes. What are you…" Yamasuki san began, but the sentence soon trailed off as he noticed his daughter's nervous actions.

Yori gave her father an anxious smile, still playing with her hair, making sure it was all in place. All the while Itachi stood calm, not flinching, not moving, as if nothing had even happened.

"What's going on?" Yamasuki san asked, raising an eyebrow scanning his daughter up and down.

"Nothing!" Yori snapped out. "We were just talking. Itachi-san is going to go to the market with me today. Maybe we can get him some new clothes. I mean not that the ones he's got now are bad, but this way he can stop borrowing yours. What did you need?"

Yamasuki took a second to process his daughters rambling. She always rambled when she was nervous. "I…I just needed you to grab something for me. But I'll just get it myself."

"Ok. Well then we'll be heading out." Yori said again very nervously.

"Right." Her father said, still rather confused and wondering what he had walked in on. "You two have fun."

With those words Yamasuki-san walked past them shaking his head.

Once gone Yori let out the breath she had been holding and slouched forward. She wasn't really sure what had happened, nor how it had happened. All she knew was that her nerves were now going crazy.

"I'm going to go wash up and then I'll be ready to go." Itachi said as if nothing had happened. He then turned and headed to the bathroom, leaving Yori behind to calm down for a moment.

Yori took in a few deep breaths then straightened up. She turned her head and watched Itachi as he walked away from her. She had never noticed before just how broad his shoulders were. The muscles on his back could be seen shifting as he swung his muscular arms. Once again she found herself lost in him.

She shook her head and swallowed. She had to snap out of it. She had no idea why she was suddenly so attracted to him, but she knew if it continued it would probably only lead to heartbreak and trouble.

Yori turned, an embarrassed, timid smile filling her face. She would go into town with him and pretend that it had never happened.


	4. Chapter 4

The creative juices are flowing now. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Chapter 5 will be up shortly!

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Chapter 4

Itachi and Yori had been at the market for several hours now. Like most women, Yori had a knack for shopping and once she got started she found it hard to stop, even though she was only buying things that they needed around the house.

While Yori looked at things she wanted to buy, Itachi wandered around, never straying too far, just enjoying the noise and bustle of the small town.

The people their seemed so happy, just like Yori and her family. Children were running around, happily playing as their parents did their errands and ran their shops. It was soothing to the soul. It made Itachi feel like perhaps he already had a home.

"Itachi san," A familiar calming voice called out from behind him while a soft hand touched his shoulder. "Are you having fun?"

Itachi looked down into Yori's glowing green eyes, her smile shining up at him. "Yes. You were right, getting out of the house has definitely made me feel better."

"See, I told you!" Yori said rather pleased with herself. "Here, I figured we could split this."

Yori broke apart an orange popsicle and handed one to him.

Itachi looked at it a little surprised then took it. "What's this for?"

"Um…you eat it." She said confused.

"I know that. But why did you get it?" Itachi told her with a slight chuckle.

It was the first time she had ever really heard him laugh or give a sincere smile and she liked what she saw. His face was so bright when he smiled, so innocent. She wished he would do it more often.

"It just looked good and I thought maybe you'd like it. That's all." Yori explained to him.

"Oh. Well, thank you."

This girl's generosity still surprised him. But he was beginning to learn that to her it didn't matter who you were she would always treat you with kindness.

Walking side by side, the two of them continued to make their way down the busy streets of the market place. Before Itachi could even take 3 steps he felt something run into his legs followed by a thud on the ground and then the cries of a child.

Looking down, Itachi saw a little boy with black hair lying on the ground crying. The dream he had suddenly came into his mind. The image of the little boy crying filled his thoughts. And the sense of belonging he had felt washed away into nothingness.

"Are you alright?" Yori asked the little boy, bending down next to him.

Her voice rang through Itachi's ears, snapping him out of his nightmare. She seemed to be the only thing that managed to make him feel sane again.

The little boy continued to cry, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "No. I hurt my leg."

Itachi bent down next to Yori and looked at the little boy's leg. There, right by his ankle, were a few scratches, but nothing too serious. "You'll be alright, it's just a scratch."

The little boy continued to cry and looked up at Itachi. "But it really hurts."

"I know it hurts. But sometimes you just have to be strong and work through the pain." Itachi told him.

Sniffing back his tears, the little boy stared up at Itachi. His face had changed from a child in pain, to a child that was trying to be strong. "Right. I have to be strong." The little boy repeated.

"That's right." Itachi assured him as he held out a hand to help him up.

Yori watched the scene unfold in amazement. She couldn't believe just how kind and understanding Itachi really was. She had always been a good judge of character, and the moment she saw him she knew he was a good person.

"There you go, now dust yourself off and watch where you're going." Itachi instructed.

The little boy smiled, but the smile quickly faded as he looked down at the ground. "Oh man, I dropped my popsicle."

Itachi saw the Popsicle lying filthy on the ground. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the little boy, who had probably only run into him because he was so excited about getting it.

"Here, I haven't licked it or anything yet." Itachi said, handing the little boy the popsicle Yori had just bought for him.

"Really? I can have it?" The little boy asked a little shocked.

"Uh huh." Itachi told him, still holding the icy treat out.

The little boy smiled and took it from him. "Thank you mister!" With that he took off running once more.

"Hey! Don't run!" Yori yelled out to the little boy. But it was pretty pointless. Little kids just can't help themselves. She just giggled and shook her head.

Itachi sighed and continued to walk forward, leaving Yori behind watching the little boy. After a minute Yori ran to catch up with Itachi, excited and cheery as always.

"That was amazing! You were so good with him!" Yori said as giddy as ever.

"It was nothing." Itachi stated flatly.

"No. Really! I bet you would make a great big brother."

The thought of himself being a big brother seemed to bounce through his mind. He hadn't really thought of it before now, and it seemed so incredibly obvious. What if he did have siblings out there? Would he be able to find them? They would have the same last name as his, wouldn't they? It made perfect sense.

"Itachi-san. Are you alright?" Yori asked concerned seeing the strange look on his face.

"Yes. I'm fine." He said bluntly, slipping back into his world of solitude.

"We should be getting back to the house. I've got to make dinner, and I'm sure Shouta and my father are going to start wondering where we are." Yori said, trying not to press him too hard and stay upbeat.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Itachi agreed then started to walk ahead towards the house.

Without letting him see, Yori frowned and heaved a sigh. Every time she thought she was making headway with him something always seemed to send them two steps backward. All she could do now was hope that he would eventually come around and stay there.

As they approached the small compound on the outskirts of the town, Itachi noticed something odd. It probably didn't appear strange to anyone else, as everyone was just ignoring it, but Itachi couldn't help but wonder what it meant.

"Yori." He called to the girl trailing behind him.

"What is it?" She said running to his side.

"That man, the one with the silvery hair, do you see him?" Itachi asked, gesturing to a man in the distance, leaning up against the wall to the compound and reading a book.

Yori nodded. "Yes. What about him?" She answered not really sure where this was going.

"Why is he dressed like that? Why is he wearing that headband?" Itachi asked.

"You mean you don't know?" She asked a little shocked.

Shaking his head Itachi kept an eye on the man as he continued his way toward the compound. "No, should I?"

"I suppose not. But he's a shinobi. And from his headband I'd say he's from konoha. It's not that uncommon to see them around. People hire them for different reasons, although usually its sand ninja you see." Yori explained.

"I see." Itachi said distantly as they neared the entrance.

Walking through the arch that led into the compound Itachi looked over at the man. Itachi found it strange that the man's face was almost completely covered. Only one eye showed the other covered up by his headband.

Apparently the man had noticed Itachi staring at him and looked up to see exactly who he was. The moment they made eye contact the man's expression changed. It had been a look of disinterest, maybe even boredom. But now it was a look of shock, his muscles tense and his body completely still.

Itachi gave no thought to the man's reaction and turned away, walking into the compound with Yori at his side. He had no idea who the man was, although something did seem a little peculiar. He had already had enough revelations for one day and didn't feel like dealing with another.

"Uhg, I can't believe we've got such a lame mission." A blonde kid whined out as he approached them.

"Naruto! You shouldn't complain. This is like a vacation compared to our last mission!" A girl with pink hair walking beside him scolded.

"Yeah, but I just got out of the hospital and this is all I get to do! I've been sitting around doing nothing for two weeks now! I want to get out and do a real mission. Not some stupid C rank mission." The kid continued to complain.

Yori watched the two of them argue back and forth as they passed her. She took a quick look at their headbands, more Konoha ninja. It was odd to see so many all of the sudden. She was used to seeing Sand ninja come through the town, since they were in the wind country. But to see three Konoha shinobi all within a few minutes was not something you witnessed often in this town.

Itachi paid no attention to the two kids as they walked by. The first ninja he had seen made him feel uneasy, like perhaps it wasn't a good thing they had seen each other. These two kids on the other hand weren't even paying attention to him. They were too busy arguing with each other to pay any mind to a man walking down the street. They passed him without even turning a glance.

"Otou-san, we're back." Yori called out as she slid open the main door of the house.

Yori slid off her shoes and stepped into the house, waiting for a response.

"Otou-san?" She called out once more.

"He's not home." Shouta stated as he came into the room from the other side.

"Where is he?" Yori asked confused. She didn't think her father had planned to go anywhere.

"He's going to Konoha. He didn't really say why. He just said that something came up and he needed to take care of it." Shouta explained.

Itachi stood in silence, listening to the two siblings' discussion. His mind kept wandering back to the first Konoha shinobi they had seen at the compound entrance. The more he thought about it, the more familiar the man's face became. But like everything in his life right now he just couldn't figure out why.

"Is father the one who hired those Konoha ninja then?" Yori asked still shocked.

"Yeah. They're going to escort him there." Shouta explained to his big sister, crossing his arms.

"So then he must have known days ago that he had to leave. It's a two day hike from here to Konoha, even if you are a ninja. They didn't just happen to show up at the right time." Yori was aggravated now. She couldn't figure out why her father wouldn't have mentioned anything to them.

"I don't know what he was thinking Yori. But I do know that we have to make the medicine run alone tomorrow." Shouta said, equally as annoyed.

"Tomorrow?!" Yori burst out. "But we're not supposed to go until next week. Why are we going tomorrow?"

Shouta huffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on now Yori, use your head. You're supposed to be the older, smarter one! We didn't get to make our medicine run last time because we had to come home to take care of _him_ instead! So now we're behind and have to go early."

Itachi came out of his thoughts and into the surrounding world with those words. "Take care of me?"

"Yeah. We found you, and instead of doing what we were supposed to do we came back here and nursed you back to health." Shouta barked out.

"Shouta! Don't be so rude. It's not Itachi's fault! It was our choice. Besides we couldn't have just left him there to die!" Yori scolded her brother.

"Whatever. Either way we're doing it tomorrow. It's what father requested we do." Shouta said, ignoring his sisters yelling.

Yori clenched her fists and let out a vicious scream. She then turned and stormed out of the room, angry at her father and brothers actions. She knew if she didn't leave it would only lead to more fighting.

Shouta shook his head and turned away, leaving Itachi in the room by himself. Itachi stood alone for a moment, wondering what exactly he should do, then finally decided to go and talk to Yori and find out exactly what was going on.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Yori sat on her bed crying, staring out the far window of her room. It was moments like these that she wanted to be alone. The moments where she showed just how weak and scared she really was.

"Yori." Itachi said softly as he opened the door to her room.

Yori quickly wiped the tears from her face, took in a few deep breaths and turned around to face him. Trying as hard as she could, she forced a smile and tried to act as if nothing was wrong.

"Is everything alright?" Itachi asked concerned.

Wiping another tear away, Yori nodded. "Yeah. Everything's fine."

Itachi sat down in front of her on the bed and gave her a stern look. "No it's not."

"Yes it is." She said forcing back the urge to cry again.

"You don't have to lie. It's no use anyway. I can tell you're upset just by your face." Itachi told her.

The fake smile drifted away as Yori bit into her bottom lip. She closed her eyes tight, not wanting to show this side of her to anyone. It was no use though. In seconds she found tears running down her cheeks and her body shaking from on coming sobs.

Itachi watched her, not sure what to do. He wanted to hold her but part of him was afraid to. But that problem was quickly resolved.

With a quiet sob Yori practically leapt onto him and buried her face in his chest. At first it caught Itachi off guard, but just like before he was suddenly calmed by her warmth. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her and began to rub her back, trying to calm the young girl down.

The two of them sat in the sad embrace for what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes. Itachi held her close as she shook, clutching to him and crying. He had no idea why she was so upset, but he was willing to hold her until she was calm again.

Finally Yori pulled away, keeping one hand on his chest just for securities sake. With her other hand she wiped her face.

"I'm sorry." She sniffled.

Itachi shook his head, looking at her a bit confused. What was she apologizing for?

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this." She said once again.

"There's no need to apologize." Itachi told her.

"Nobodies supposed to see me this way. I'm supposed to be the strong one. I'm supposed to keep everyone's spirits up." Yori explained with a hint of insincere laughter in her voice.

"You can't be strong all the time. If you push yourself too hard you'll only get hurt." Itachi told her while he gently brushed a piece of long black hair out of her face.

"You don't understand. I have to be strong. If I'm not strong then who will be? If I'm not strong my family will fall apart." Yori said as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

With a stroke of his thumb Itachi wiped away a tear. "That's a very heavy burden to bear all by yourself. Why is it only yours?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She told him.

"You can tell me. It's alright." He reassured her.

"I…It's nothing. Really, I'm ok."

"Please tell me." He urged. "I want to know."

Yori closed her eyes for a moment and held her breath, attempting to stop her crying. Her body was trembling still, her breathing uneven and shaky. "Two years ago my mother died." Yori began. "Or maybe I should start before that. With the way things were before she died."

Itachi looked at the sadness on her face. A sadness that he had never seen before on her. The cheerfulness in her eyes had disappeared only to be replaced with sorrow. It was obvious now that she had only been putting up a front to make sure everyone else was happy.

"When my father met my mother he was not a practicing doctor. In fact he knew very little about medicine. She was the one who was an expert at it." Yori began, occasionally letting out a quiet sob. "My father was a practiced samurai. But he got injured in a fight and was told he would never fight again. That's where he met my mother. She was the one who cared for him."

Yori paused for a moment to take in a deep breath then continued. "Years past and they had me and my brother. Things were good then. My parents would cure the sick and make medicine to go sell to other towns. Meanwhile my father would teach my brother sword fighting techniques while my mother taught me how to make medicine."

"But three years ago my mother got very sick from an incurable disease. My father tried everything. He even took her to see a medical specialist. But nothing worked. She died a year later. After that my father became very distant and just pretended like nothing had changed, and Shouta became a very angry person. I think partially because my father stopped training him like he had been and took on the burden of running his practice alone. That's when I realized that I had to take her place. I had to be the woman of the house. Do her work, raise Shouta, help my father and be strong for them."

Yori felt more tears welling up in her eyes, which made her even more frustrated than she already was. She squeezed them shut, forcing the tears to come welling out and down her face. Her lip began to quiver and her body trembled even more than it already was.

She shook her head and clutched onto Itachi's shirt. "But I…I don't think I can do it anymore." With those words she replaced her head back onto his chest and continued to cry.

Itachi hadn't realized just how much this girl had been through. Here he was thinking only of himself trying to remember his past, and all she wanted to do was forget hers.

"I'm sorry" is all he could say.

Again he held her to him, running strong but gentle hands through her thick black hair. Closing his eyes he rested his cheek on her head. He hadn't realized it before, but her hair smelled like cherry blossoms. It was a calming scent. And despite how upset she was he couldn't help but find he was at peace with himself.

"I know you're lost, and you feel like no matter how hard you try you simply can't find your way, but just know that you're not alone." He whispered to her, quoting her very words.

Yori took in a long deep breath and looked up into his eyes. They didn't look like before. They weren't sad and alone anymore. Instead they were the eyes of someone who truly cared. But still they were so deep that she could get lost in them. And still they seemed like they held a secret that was just waiting to be unlocked.

"Itachi-san…" Yori started to speak, but was quickly hushed by Itachi gently placing a finger on her lips.

It shouldn't have, but it surprised him a bit to feel just how soft her lips were. "You don't have to say anything."

He moved his hand to her cheek and once again they felt drawn to one another. Yori had now completely forgotten why she was upset and was focused entirely on the moment.

Her trembling was gone and was now replaced with a whole new problem. Her heart felt as if it was going to pound out of her chest. Just like before this was not something she had intended, but she wanted it more than ever.

Itachi caressed her cheek as he carefully pulled her closer to him. He wasn't nervous like before. Instead he was anxious, excited even. He wanted to feel that softness he had felt moments ago against his lips.

As they closed their eyes, and felt the heat of each others breath, the world around them seemed to disappear. All that mattered now was this moment.

Not a second too soon their lips touched. Every anxiety, every pain they felt melted away.

Yori's heart picked up even more, but not from nerves. This was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced. It was like she no longer had to worry about being strong, because his strength was enough for both of them. For once in her life she felt secure.

Itachi slowly pulled his lips away and pressed his forehead against hers. Opening their eyes they stared into each other. Two lost souls, one without a past and the other with a past she wished she didn't remember, becoming one.

"Itachi-san, we shouldn't do this." Yori said rather unconvincingly.

"Why not?" Itachi asked.

"Because, what will happen when you find out who you really are? What if you already have someone who loves you? What will you do then?" Yori questioned.

"Shh. Don't worry, that won't happen." He assured her.

"How do you kn…" But before she could finish Itachi replaced his lips onto hers, kissing her even deeper than before.

After the initial shock of his lips hitting hers, Yori relaxed into him. She quickly worked her hands up his chest, to his shoulders, and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him even closer to him.

With a slam Yori jumped and pulled away, looking towards the direction of the noise.

"What are you doing?" Shouta asked angrily.

"Shouta…" Yori was completely lost for words.

Itachi turned his attention to the boy, who was giving him the look of death. He could vaguely understand where the kid was coming from, but he harbored so much anger it was almost tangible.

Without saying another word Shouta stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Yori jumped to her feet and immediately ran after him, throwing the door back open. "Shouta! Shouta wait!"

But her little brother didn't respond. He continued to walk away until he was no longer in view.

"Shouta!" Yori called out again. She was ready to run after him before she felt a firm hand grasp onto her wrist.

"Let him go. He just needs to cool down." Itachi instructed.

The pleasant feeling Yori had felt just moments ago washed away. She wanted to regret everything she did but for whatever reason she couldn't. She just couldn't feel bad for finally finding something that made her truly happy.

* * *

I'm addicted to writing this! I liked this chapter. It vaguely reminded me of an episode of naruto, aside from the mushy stuff thats just me. But I mean the whole we're not really getting anywhere except informing the audience of the characters past. Anyway, hope you liked it. Chapter 6 will be coming soon! 


	6. Chapter 6

Long chapter so I'm sorry if there are some typos. I think i caught them all. Plus don't jump to any conclusions with this one. Read to the end trust me! I entirely enjoyed writing this one and was being super picky with it. I think I watched episode 81, 82, and 131 like ten times before I finished it lol. Ok well hope you enjoy!

* * *

chapter 6

Night had fallen hours ago and yet Yori was still awake. The house was silent, the only sound being heard was that of the crickets chirping. She had been sitting on the front porch since Shouta had left, waiting for his return. But now past midnight, she could hardly stay awake.

"Are you still up? You really should get some sleep." Itachi said as he came out to check on her.

"I can't sleep. I'm too worried about him." She said shaking her head.

Itachi heard the dismay in her voice and felt compelled to comfort her. He wrapped his hand carefully around her arm and started to pull her off the front step. "Come on, you need to go to bed."

Yori didn't fight him. She stood up and followed him to her room, her only resistance was the speed, or lack there of, of her steps.

Finally they made it to her room and Yori laid down on her bed, still looking out the door for Shouta.

"He'll be fine. You'll wake up tomorrow and he'll be back, I promise." Itachi assured her, then bent down and softly kissed her forehead.

As he turned to walk away he felt a hand quickly latch onto his wrist. He turned to see what she was doing, and there she sat, tears once again running down her face, and shaking her head.

"Don't go…please." She begged.

"You need to get some sleep." He told her, sitting back down on the bed.

"Just stay here with me. Please." She pleaded.

Itachi was completely lost for words. He had no idea what to do. He couldn't very well take advantage of her, but he had the distinct feeling she was not going to let him go so easily.

"Yori, I need to get to bed too. I'll…"

"Please! Just until I fall asleep." She interrupted.

Itachi closed his eyes and took in a deep breath then slowly let it out. "Ok."

Yori smiled at him, a very sincere smile. He was the only one that could make her feel secure now, the only one that made her feel truly safe.

She laid back down, still holding onto his hand and looking up into his deep onyx eyes. They still mesmerized her every time she stared into them. It made her wonder just what kind of amazing things they hid.

"You can get comfortable. I may take a while to fall asleep." She told him.

Once again Itachi found himself lost for words. She was in a weak state now and it just was not in his nature to take advantage of women when they were not completely coherent, or at least he didn't think it was.

Hesitantly he sat all the way on the bed, stretching his feet out in front of him and resting his back on the wall behind him. This was the best he could do to keep her happy and not feel uncomfortable at the same time.

Yori smiled then closed her eyes and laid next to him. His warmth was exactly what she needed to feel content. She wanted nothing more then to simply be near him as she slept. In a matter of moments she drifted off into a much needed sleep.

Itachi stayed and watched her for a few minutes as she slumbered. She looked peaceful finally, a look that he had missed seeing from her for the last few hours. His eyelids too were getting heavy, but he didn't want to leave just yet for fear he might wake her. Instead he stayed and then without realizing it drifted into sleep himself.

Although the dream started the same, it seemed to take a different turn that night. The little boy sat crying in front of him, but instead of looking at his hands, Itachi knelt down and attempted to comfort the child.

With big frightened black eyes the little boy stared up at him.

"I'm scared." He said softly. "I'm scared!" This time he screamed then got up and ran away.

Itachi reached out for him but the moment he saw his hand it was once again stained with the crimson red of blood. He clenched his fist then began to run after the small boy.

Leaving the room he found himself in some sort of compound, although it wasn't the one he had been living in for the last two weeks. Pictures of fans were hung up all over, and bodies littered the streets. The sight was horrifying, so just for a moment he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he found himself standing once more in front of the little boy, who was trembling in fear.

"Nii-san." The little boy said with a shaky voice. "This is a lie. This isn't how my brother is."

"Foolish little brother." Itachi found himself speaking, or rather he wasn't himself. As the scene unfolded he began to drift away from it and watch as if he were just an observer.

"If you want to kill me, despise me, hate me, and live in an unsightly way, run away and cling to life. And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me." The man saying those words opened his eyes, but they were no longer their normal black. In stead they were red with a black spiral running through them.

Itachi awoke with a gasp, drenched in sweat like always. His heart was pounding so hard that it hurt and he was finding it hard to catch his breath. But the moment he got his bearings, he realized something was a little off. He was in Yori's room and lying in her lap.

"Shh, you had a bad dream." Yori said running her fingers through his hair. "But it's ok now. It's over."

Itachi looked up with just his eyes and saw her smiling face looking down on him. Slowly he sat up and looked around. It was nearly morning. He had spent almost the entire night with her.

"I'm…I'm sorry I didn't mean to…"

Itachi's words were quickly halted by a slender finger being placed on his lips. "You don't have to say anything. It's alright." Yori said smiling, then replaced her finger with her lips.

Itachi returned the quick kiss then pulled away. "I should go back to my room." He said as he started to leave.

Yori quickly reached up and grabbed him, pulling him back to her. "Why?"

Itachi looked at her wide eyed and completely confused. What did she mean why? Wasn't it completely obvious?

"My father isn't home. It's just us." She said kissing him again and sliding her hand down his abdomen.

Itachi cringed at how good her touch felt. But he couldn't let it take a hold of him. He had to keep a level head.

"What's the matter?" She whispered in a sultry voice as she slid her fingers underneath his shirt, touching his bare skin.

Itachi let out a groan, half from the sheer pleasure of her touch and half from the frustration it caused him. "Stop." He said grabbing a hold of her wrist.

"Why? You don't like it?" Yori said with fake disappointment.

"This isn't right." He told her.

With a seductive smile Yori took her hand from his body and replaced it onto her own shoulder. Slowly she slid the soft blue material of the kimono she had been wearing down, to reveal just her shoulder. "Don't you want to see more?"

Itachi found himself mesmerized by the silky white skin that he had never seen before. It looked like cream, smooth and soft. He wanted more than anything to touch her. But he knew he couldn't.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "This isn't like you."

"How do you know what I'm really like? You hardly know me, remember?" She reminded him.

With long nimble fingers Yori grabbed a hold of the bottom of Itachi's shirt and slowly pulled it up over his head.

He could no longer control himself. Once his shirt was completely off, Itachi pushed Yori down onto the bed and laid on top of her. Fiercely he kissed her, pressing his body into hers. God did he want this.

"Get off my sister you bastard!" A young voice screamed from the door way.

Itachi and Yori both turned to find Shouta standing there, his sword drawn, and an angry look displayed across his face.

Both of them sat up, Yori clutching her Kimono making sure it didn't fall down any further. "Shouta, what are you doing?"

"I should be asking you that!" Shouta screamed as he walked into the room.

Itachi stood up to face the boy. He had known this was a bad idea. He knew it was only going to get him into trouble. "Shouta…listen we…"

"Shut up!" Shouta yelled as he pointed the sharp end of his sword directly at Itachi's throat. "Just shut up. I'm going to kill you!"

Itachi didn't find himself afraid in the least. In fact he found something strange welling up inside of him. He closed his eyes to compose himself even further then opened them. "You're going to kill me, huh?" He asked, grabbing a hold of the sword.

Shouta's eyes grew wide from the lack of fear this man had of him. "Yes! I'll kill you!"

"Then do it!" Itachi egged him on.

"Don't think I won't!" Shouta said now very nervous.

Itachi gave a wicked smile followed by an equally menacing chuckle. He began walking forward, the sword driving straight into his skin. "I'd like to see you try."

Shouta let go of the sword and took a step back. The man standing in front of him now had a sword running straight through his body and not even a drop of blood was coming out.

"It won't be easy." A frightening voice whispered in the young boy's ear.

Shouta turned sharply only to see Itachi standing in front of him wearing a long black and red cloak and an indifferent look on his face.

Now afraid, he started to back away. It was obvious this man was not somebody to mess with. But before he even took 2 steps he bumped into something firm.

"Come on. Let me see what you got." The same voice whispered.

Shouta was panicked now. He couldn't breathe. The world was spinning around him. Everywhere he turned Itachi was standing in front of him, wearing that strange black and red outfit and grinning.

"You're trapped in my genjutsu. But this isn't the extent of my power." Itachi said wickedly. "Let me show you the power of the Uchiha clan."

Itachi grabbed a hold of the boy's shoulders and closed his eyes. When they opened again they were no longer their deep endless black. Once again they were red with three black dots surrounding the center pupil.

Right in front of Shouta's eyes the three black dots merged to form a single spiral. He gasped and then suddenly he was falling into what seemed like an eternal abyss.

"In the world of tsukuyomi I control space and time…" The same wicked voice surrounded Shouta.

Suddenly Shouta found himself a small child again, completely helpless and crying on the floor. He was in a strange world where the only thing he could see was a blood red moon in an endless sky.

"…and even the mass of objects." Itachi finished as he stood in front of him.

"What…what's going on?" Shouta said in a small voice.

"For the next 24 hours you will witness your own death over and over, and be helpless to stop it." Itachi explained to him.

Without knowing how or why Shouta found himself chained up and unable to move. This was the most frightening thing he had ever experienced in his life and he didn't even know what it was.

He stared at the floor, crying, desperate for an escape when he suddenly saw a pair of black sandals step out in front of him. He gasped and looked up to see Itachi standing there with a sword in his hand.

"Don't…don't kill me." Shouta pleaded.

Itachi paid no attention to the boys pleading. He simply gave him the same wicked grin he had before and raised the sword. As he brought it down he let out a scream, only to find that he himself was held in the chains.

The sword raised up again and holding it was the little boy from his dream. "Nii-san. I did what you said. I hated you, despised you, and lived on. And now I'm going to kill you."

Itachi closed his eyes and braced for another impact of the sword.

"Itachi-san." The boy said wickedly.

Itachi looked up at him, the sword coming down in slow motion.

"Itachi-san." He repeated, a little louder this time.

"Itachi-san!" This time it was a scream.

With a jolt Itachi sprung awake afraid for his life. He felt the presence of someone near him and without thinking lurched out, grabbed hold of their throat, and pinned them to the wall he had been leaning against.

Yori's eyes grew wide as she let out a frightened squeal. She looked into the man's eyes, searching for some recognition but only found something completely terrifying.

His eyes were not the same. They were blood red and full of the intent to kill. For the first time she was actually afraid of him.

She clawed at his hands and struggled to scream but couldn't. Her airways were completely blocked off. All she could get out were croaks and gargles.

"Ita…" She struggled out, trying to stay as calm as possible.

Itachi's chest was heaving. Anger and fear consumed him making his vision strange. He didn't know what was going on, but he wanted it to end.

"Ita…chi…" Yori tried again.

Itachi gathered himself and took in his surroundings, regaining his composure. He looked at the person who he had pinned to the wall and was horrified to find that it was the woman he had been falling in love with.

Itachi quickly let go and caught her as she went limp. She crumpled into his arms, coughing and gasping for air.

"Yori!" He cried out. "Yori, I'm so sorry."

Yori continued to cough. She attempting to shake her head and tell him it was ok but all that came out was a squeak. For now she would just have to wait until she could breath again to tell him.

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Chapter 7 coming soon. Things are beginning to progress again! 


	7. Chapter 7

sigh sorry this took so long guys. I was without internet for days. To make along story short I am in Paris right now. It was the trip from hell getting here though. Our flight was delayed 8 hours! I didn't leave the states until 4:15 am. So we didn't get here until rreeaaallly late, the 6 hour time different and all. then I had to wait until yesterday to get internet. So yeah..once again I'm sorry. Anyway here it is, chapter 7. Not my favorite chapter but it's building things up now. Hope you like it.

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Chapter 7

The moment he let go of her, Itachi bolted for the door. He couldn't believe everything that had just happened. His small, newly forming world, was crumbling around him. And the sad part was he was the entire reason for it.

The sky was still dark and littered with stars. Despite the extensive nightmare he had just had, only an hour had gone by. It was like he was reliving the night, which was fine, except it was going even worse than before.

As he sat, drenched in sweat, his face showing his shock, he noticed something move from the corner of his eye. He looked up and storming in, still apparently very upset, was the young boy who had started this mess.

They made eye contact for a moment, just staring at each other with sheer hatred. Shouta obviously was not going to accept him and quite frankly Itachi was alright with it.

"Shouta, where have you been?" Itachi finally asked, taking his mind as far away from what had just happened as possible.

"It's none of your business. I'm going to bed." Shouta said rather shortly.

Itachi wasn't going to argue with the boy. At this point he just didn't have it in him. Instead he just stood up and decided to go face the horrors he had just inflicted on himself.

"Going to take advantage of my sister some more?" Shouta asked snidely.

Itachi placed one hand on the sliding door to the girl's room and looked back at Shouta over his shoulder. He didn't say anything, just glared angrily at him. There were so many things he wanted to tell him but with his head still reeling he simply could not find the words.

"Can't even argue the point, can you? Are you afraid I'm right? Come on say something!" Shouta said rather mockingly.

Itachi turned once again to face the frustrated boy. Slowly he raised his hand and waved him over.

Cocking one eyebrow, Shouta hesitantly made his way over to Itachi, not knowing what this man was going to do to him.

As he got closer, Itachi raised his arm higher and with two fingers poked the young boy in the forehead. "Forgive me Shouta…" he started.

Shouta flinched as Itachi's fingers hit his forehead. He rubbed that spot then looked up at him totally dumbfounded.

"Maybe some other time." Itachi finished with a lackadaisical smile, then turned around and headed back into the bedroom.

Shouta couldn't find the words to say. It was not at all what he was expecting to happen. He just stood and watched as the man walked away from him as if nothing had even happened.

The lump of blankets that was laying on the bed stirred with the sound of the door sliding open. Itachi wasn't sure what to do or say, but he knew he had to do something, say something, to make things right again.

"Itachi-san." Yori said half groggy half concerned.

"Yori, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I shouldn't have. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. I'm so so sorry…"

"Shh, it's ok." Yori finally stopped him while she sat up from her bed. "I startled you. You were having a nightmare and I shouldn't have scared you like that."

"No, it's not ok." Itachi told her as he stood completely still in the door way. "But I'll make it up to you, I promise. For now go back to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

With those final words Itachi turned and left the room, not letting Yori even attempt to respond. He didn't want to hear her say it was her fault. He didn't want her to show just how much she cared for him. He needed this guilt. Or perhaps it was another sort of guilt he wanted.

The next morning Itachi awoke once again to the sun beating down on him. He hadn't slept at all that night and was completely exhausted. The already dark lines underneath his eyes were shadowed, his eyes drooping, and his body sore from exhaustion. But he wasn't going to give into it. He knew it was his own doing.

As he slid open the door the tremendously bright sun blinded him momentarily. With the limited vision he had, he saw three figures in the yard obviously busy preparing for their trip.

One figure was obviously female, with long hair and a graceful walk. She cheerfully loaded boxes of something on a large cart. He was glad to see that Yori was alright after what he had done to her.

The second figure was slightly taller and definitely male. But by the way he moved Itachi knew immediately that it was Shouta.

The third figure, however, seemed familiar but unidentifiable to Itachi. From what he could see it was a man who was a bit taller than Shouta with spikey hair.

Itachi walked down the steps and into the yard, where the figures came more into focus.

"Itachi-san." Yori said smiling then ran over to him. "I didn't want to wake you. I know you didn't sleep much last night."

"That's fine." Itachi said, examining her up and down.

Usually Yori wore elegant yet practical things. Skirts and blouses were her normal gear. And they were totally appropriate for the weather. But today she had something different on.

Like usual she wore a long skirt, but her shirt was definitely out of the ordinary. It was a long sleeved shirt that buttoned all the way up with an exceptionally high collar. Immediately after seeing this Itachi knew exactly why she was wearing it.

"Yori." He said concerned. Without any more words he reached out and pulled her collar down. There, tainting the beautiful skin on her neck, was a black and blue hand shaped bruise.

Yori pushed his hand away and smiled. "It's ok. Don't worry about it. Accidents happen right?"

It was very apparent that she was hiding how much pain she was really in. Even the way she spoke was off. Her fluid voice had a raspiness to it, and she didn't talk as loud as she normally would.

"You must be Itachi." The third figure spoke and walked towards him, breaking them from that somber moment..

"Oh yeah. Itachi-san, this is Kakashi-san. My father hired him to help us out with our medicine run since he couldn't make it." Yori said as giddy as ever.

Itachi looked the man up and down. Right away he knew where he recognized him from.

"You're the shinobi from yesterday. We saw you standing against the wall." Itachi stated flatly.

Kakashi looked at him a little surprised and then laughed nervously. "Right right. I was waiting for the rest of the team and catching up on my book."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the man's strange antics. Yesterday he looked at him as if they knew each other, and today he was acting as if they had never met before.

Yori placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder and smiled up at him. "I'll let you two talk. I'm going to go finish loading up."

As Yori bounded away the fun expression on Kakashi's face faded into nothingness.

"You know me somehow don't you?" Itachi asked bluntly, which he would later learn to regret.

"Yes. I do." Kakashi answered just as short.

"How?"

"You can stop this now. You've been found and nothing can change what has to be done." Kakashi reached back into his pouch and slowly pulled something out.

Itachi watched the man's hand for a moment, seeing exactly what he was doing. His eyes widened as he saw the glint of a kunai in the sun.

"Then I take it we're not friends." Itachi stated almost disappointed.

"No. We're not.

Itachi closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He finally found someone who knew him, who could explain his dreams, who could maybe help him find his family, and they were enemies.

"I don't want to cause any problems in front of these people, Itachi, so let's not make a scene here." Kakashi said, sliding the kunai back into his pouch.

"I don't even know who you are. Why would I make a scene?" Itachi asked shooting his eyes back open.

The simple gesture of opening his eyes made Kakashi jump. It was as if he was so cautious, so afraid of Itachi that any movement he made him go on the defensive.

Itachi simply ignored the man's strange reaction and walked past him, towards Yori and Shouta. He had all day to figure this out. And he planned to get Kakashi alone to ask if a few questions, even if they were enemies.


	8. Chapter 8

A generally short chapter, but still a chapter! I like taking my time to develop stories, incase you hadn't noticed. But hey whatever right! Anyway, sorry it's taking me a little while to update. I'm studying in Paris right now and I'm extremely busy. But I'll try to at least get one chapter up a week, if not more. The next chapter is gonna be good so keep reading! Oh yeah, I'm also gonna start working on some pics from this story too...so when they're done you can go check them out if you want!

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Chapter 8

The forest was dark, the sky completely over cast and even darker clouds rolling in on top of them. Itachi looked up through the dense leaves of the trees, to see just how bad this trip was going to be.

"It's so strange. We weren't supposed to have rain today." Yori said a little worried.

"If we pick up the pace a bit we should make it to our next stop before it starts." Shouta said as he started walking faster.

Both Kakashi and Itachi looked around, wondering just what to do. This didn't feel right. It didn't seem right. They were in a dry season, so why would there be rain? It made absolutely no sense at all.

"I agree with Shouta. But we need to keep our guards up." Kakashi stated.

Yori switched her gaze between all three men, examining their strange expressions. She hadn't been trained to pick up on things, but she knew just by the way they were behaving something wasn't quite right.

"Let's go." Kakashi instructed and immediately everyone of them started to move just a bit faster.

Kakashi was a good ways in front of the group, keeping an eye out for whatever it was he was sensing. Itachi was having no problems at all keeping up with him. Shouta followed next. He was in pretty good shape from the sword training, but was dragging the cart they had brought so he couldn't go quite as fast as the other two.

Yori, on the other hand, was lagging behind. Normally she would be able to keep up just find, but she was finding it hard to breathe. The quicker the moist air ran down her wind pipes and into her lungs, the more her throat started to burn. She held out for a few minutes, but before she knew it she was falling to her knees gasping for air.

Shouta heard the thump as his sister fell down to the ground and stopped in his tracks.

"Yori!" He yelled, letting go of the cart and running towards her. "Are you alright?"

Yori didn't say anything. She coughed a bit and kept a firm hand on her chest. Her throat felt like it was on fire and her heart was about to beat right out of her chest.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked after noticing the commotion behind him.

"Noth…nothing." Yori squeaked out then coughed some more.

Itachi looked down at the suddenly very weak looking girl and was absolutely horrified. He was already guilt ridden from the marks he had left on her, and now his actions were causing even more problems.

"Yori, can you stand up?" Shouta asked as he took an arm to try and help her.

Yori shook her hand and slowly rose to her feet, keeping one hand on her throat. This was the last thing she had wanted. She was slowing everyone down and making them worry. She was a bother now.

Kakashi reached out and without any hesitation at all pulled down the collar to Yori's shirt. This action immediately snapped Itachi out of his guilty haze. Without thinking he reached out and grabbed Kakashi arm and gave him the most intense stare he possibly could.

"What do you think you're doing?" He barked out.

"There's obviously something wrong with her throat. I want to take a look at it." Kakashi stated then removed his arm from Itachi's grasp.

Itachi knew what this meant, but he hadn't even thought of it when he grabbed the man's arm. He knew if those bruises were exposed it would be a lot of trouble for him. But his only thought when he did what he did was that Kakashi had no business touching her like that.

Pulling the collar the rest of the way down, Kakashi exposed the now very prominent hand shape bruise around her throat. It was obviously the cause of her problems.

"What's this?" Shouta asked infuriated. "Who did this to you?"

Yori pulled away from Kakashi and covered the bruises back up. "No one, it's nothing." She said, her voice raspy.

"That is not nothing, Yori! That's a major problem! Who did that to you?" Shouta asked now even angrier.

"I did it." Itachi said flatly. "I did it to her."

"Itachi-san you…" Yori started.

"No, I did it. It's my fault." Itachi cut her off.

"You did this? You hurt my sister! I'll kill you, you stupid bastard!" Shouta shouted then immediately drew his sword.

It was like the scene out of Itachi's dream. But unlike the dream, Itachi wasn't feeling confident. He felt like he deserved this, like Shouta should just kill him.

"Go ahead." Itachi said.

"No! It was an accident! Shouta stop!" Yori shouted then went into another coughing fit.

Shouta saw his sister's condition and started to run at Itachi, his sword in hand ready to kill.

"That's enough!" Kakashi yelled as he grabbed a hold of Shouta's hand and threw him to the side sending him tumbling onto the ground. "We don't have time to be fighting each other. We've all agreed something isn't quite right and fighting amongst ourselves only gives the enemy a better opening!"

Shouta quickly scrambled to his feet. He was completely outraged by the fact he had been stopped from killing the man who had hurt his sister.

"But what about Yori? She's hurt and she won't be able to keep up!" Shouta yelled out, brushing himself off.

"I'll carry her." Itachi said as he gingerly hoisted the girl onto his back.

"Don't you touch her! You're the one who did this!" Shouta was preparing for yet another mindless attack.

"I said that's enough! Itachi may be the cause of this but if he is willing to carry her then it will help us in the long run." Kakashi scolded.

Shouta glared at the man who was carrying his sister so gently. The more he stared the more he hated him.

Yori closed her eyes, pushing back the urge to cry. "I'm sorry." She whispered gently into Itachi's ear.

"No, it's not your fault." He said back to her as they continued to walk.

"But I almost…" Yori began but was quickly stopped from the large thud of someone jumping to the ground in front of them. She couldn't clearly make out the person, but she had it a feeling they meant trouble.


	9. Chapter 9

Woot! one more chapter today baby! I'm rocking it now. Actually I just got in early and finished all my homework so I had a little extra time. So yeah...a wee bit more info. I am studying for a month here in Paris which is awesome! J'adore Paris! So be patient ok guys. The story only has a few more chapters and it'll be done. I want to have it finished before I go back home to sunny Florida. Anyway...hope you like this chapter

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Chapter 9 

Kakashi carefully pulled a kunai out of his pouch and took a defensive stance. He wasn't going to take any chances with this strange new person they were encountering.

"Show yourself!" Shouta yelled, seeing the shadowing figure standing in front of him. It was so strange, he was right there and yet the enemies face was not visible at all.

"We're trapped in a jutsu. This isn't an ordinary bandit." Kakashi explained.

Shouta had never been up against a ninja before. Ninja didn't have much reason for attacking peddlers. So why in the world would one be coming after them now?

"You three stay back and let me handle this." Kakashi instructed.

The figure drew closer, coming out of the shadows he had created for himself. Kakashi and Shouta were both ready for a fight. Despite his warnings, Shouta had every intention of fighting this enemy if that's what they wanted.

"Copy ninja kakashi. So then I suppose Konoha has heard about this as well. I don't want to fight you. I only want the missing nin." The shadow explained.

"Show your face if you want to talk." Kakashi commanded.

"Missing nin? What missing nin?" Shouta asked entirely confused.

The figure stepped one foot into the light. Whoever it was was not afraid at all of his opponents. In fact he seemed like he intended to walk in, get what he wanted, and walk out.

Yori's eye's grew wide as she saw the huge man step out of the darkness. He towered over Kakashi and he was extremely built. She didn't know what he was after, but she knew he was definitely bad news.

"A sand ninja? What in the world do you want with us?" Shouta asked as cocky as ever.

The large man ignored the young boy and continued to approach Kakashi. "If you hand him over there won't be any problems at all. We're allied nations after all, the last thing I want here is to start a conflict."

"You can't take him. He is Konoha's priority. We have to keep this a secret until we can find out more details." Kakashi explained, relaxing his stance a bit.

"You Konoha shinobi managed to wipe out the rest of Akatsuki but somehow failed to manage to kill this one. The group was responsible for the near death of lord kazekage and since it is apparent you can't handle it we're going to take care of the last remaining member." The sand ninja explained.

"I find it hard to believe that Gaara would send you out here looking specifically for one man who is barely a threat in his current state." Kakashi contradicted the man.

"Are you calling me a liar?" The sand ninja asked, getting right into Kakashi's face.

"No no, of course not. But if Gaara sent you out on such a mission then he has really changed since I last saw him." Kakashi explained unimpressed by the man's antics.

"Back up one second!" Shouta finally interrupted. "Who in the world are you talking about? We don't have a missing nin with us. And none of us tried to kill the sand's kazekage!"

Suddenly Itachi felt a strange chill run up his spine. The events these men spoke of, however cryptic and secretive, were so familiar to him it was frightening. He drifted into his own world for a second, listening to his inner conscious.

It spoke to him clearly, a dark heavy voice whispering to him "You know it's you. You're a missing nin."

"I can't let you have him." Kakashi said, yet again taking a fighting stance and completely ignoring Shouta.

"Then I'll have to take him by force!" The man yelled out then immediately went to punch Kakashi.

Kakashi easily dodged the blow, jumping into the air and letting the man hit the ground. The surrounding earth erupted into a million pieces. Obviously this guy was no joke.

"You three! Get out of here, I'll deal with him!" Kakashi yelled out from above.

"I can help Kakashi-san!" Shouta yelled back, pulling out his sword and immediately running up to the large man.

"Shouta no!" Yori yelled, knowing her little brother would never survive fighting him.

The large sand ninja grinned at the new opponent and without any hesitation swung as hard and as fast as he could in Shouta's direction.

Shouta saw the large fist coming straight for him, his eyes widening with fear. It was stupid for him to have run right into a fight like this, and now he was going to get himself killed.

He braced for the hit, closing his eyes and tensing up his body, but before the punch struck he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh. When he opened up his eyes, Kakashi was flying past him, having took the blow for the young boy.

The sand ninja looked at Shouta a little surprised. "Well, you got off lucky that time kid. But you won't this time!"

Shouta grabbed his sword and prepared for a fight he knew he would not be able to win. He was stupid to have even thought he could fight in the first place. And now there was no one to protect him.

"Shouta, get out of there!" Yori yelled at her little brother, afraid for his life.

Shouta was frozen, having never even been in a real battle before. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, he just stood there trembling.

Itachi watched the scene unfold. Once again that small voice in the back of his head began to speak.

"You can take him" it said. "He's weak."

Without even thinking about it, Itachi carefully placed Yori back onto her feet. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he knew he would have to do something. If he didn't, Shouta was going to get killed.

Looking back at Kakashi, he saw that the ninja that was hired to protect them was out cold. Itachi was sure that Kakashi would have never normally lost so easily, but while protecting Shouta he had put himself in the line of fire.

"What are you doing?" Yori asked confused and concerned at the same time.

"I have to help." Itachi told her.

"What? No! You'll end up getting yourself killed! Are you crazy?" Yori yelled.

But Itachi didn't listen. He started to walk up to the man, ready for a fight to the death, even if it was his own.

"Move Shouta!" Itachi barked.

At this point in time Shouta didn't care who was giving orders, he was going to listen. He took one step, but before he could get out of the way the sand ninja's arm came swinging across, hitting him in the abdomen and sending him soaring to the side.

"Shouta!" Yori screamed, then ran over to her unconscious little brothers side.

"It's good to get the bugs out of the way first. That way they don't bother me while I'm after the main prize." The sand ninja said, staring directly at Itachi.

Itachi glared, not saying a word. Once again the voice in his head spoke to him.

"That's right, you can do this. You're stronger than he is."

Itachi nodded in accordance to his strange inner advisor. He believed he could do this. He didn't know how but he knew he could.

Without anymore thought Itachi rushed rather efficiently towards the enemy nin. He had no clue what his first attack would be, but it didn't really matter. There was no turning back now.

The large ninja cracked his knuckled then pulled back his hand and swung as hard and as fast as he could, aiming straight for Itachi's face.

"He's concentrating chakra into his hands. I'm sure it's his basic move. Don't let it hit you and you'll be alright." The inner voice instructed.

Itachi listened and, as best as he could, dodged the attack.

"Good, you're on the inside. You have an opening, go for it!" The inner voice yelled excitedly.

The words of this voice inside of him made him excited. He followed its instructions and hooked upward with his fist, hitting the sand ninja smack dab in the chin.

The ninja stumbled backwards then rubbed his chin and shook off the punch.

"Good shot. But it was weak! I thought you were supposed to be an s-class criminal!"

Yori watched the entire scene unfold completely horror-struck. She cradled her little brother, who had already been beaten by this brute, and watched the man she was falling for risk his life to help them.

With the sound of a groan Yori broke her gaze from the fight to something stirring behind her.

Kakashi staggered to his feet, a bit of blood dripping from his nose, but otherwise generally unharmed.

"Kakashi-san!" Yori yelled, glad to see it was alright.

"How is Shouta?" He asked as he got his bearings.

Yori looked back down to her passed out baby brother. Blood ran down his lip and his breathing was a little short, but otherwise he seemed alright.

"Damn it. I knew that was going to happen." Kakashi said irritated.

"Itachi-san is…" Yori started then turned her gaze back to the fight.

Dodging each others blows the two men duked it out. It was like a violent dance as they threw punches and kicks and weaved in and out.

Itachi went for a kick to the side but suddenly found his leg being caught in a very strong arm.

"I've got you now!" The enemy said happily.

"No! You idiot! How could you let him grab you!" The inner voice yelled.

_What do I do? He's got me! What do I do? _Itachi begged. But before the inner voice could answer Itachi was being swung around and thrown right into a tree.

Bam! He hit hard and for just a moment the world went black.

"How could you let him get you?" The voice said through the darkness.

"What was I supposed to do? I don't know how to fight. I don't even know who I am." Itachi answered dismayed.

"You don't, but I do." The voice said getting closer now.

"Who are you anyway?" Itachi asked confused, looking around for a face to match this voice.

With that a man in a long black cloak with red clouds stepped out in front of him.

"Who do you think I am?" The man asked.

Itachi looked him up and down. It was like looking in a mirror, a perfect reflection of him self. It was the clearest he had ever seen it. This was most definitely the man from his dreams. The man that had acted so violently, so harshly to that young boy.

"You're me." Itachi said flatly.

"A piece of you. The piece of you that knows how to fight. The piece of you that knows how to handle this bastard. That's who I am." The man explained.

For just a moment Itachi stood face to face with him, looking him over and wondering what exactly he should do with this new revelation he was having.

"You have to remember me. You have to remember this part of yourself, or else you will never survive this fight." The piece of him explained.

"But how? How do I remember you? I don't understand." Itachi asked.

The other him raised its hand, causing Itachi's to follow. "I'm a part of you now. You've already remembered me."

The two of the linked fingers and with a few steps they came together, stepping into one another. At that very moment flashes of memories rushed through his brain. A ninja academy, missions, weaponry, fighting techniques, and of course the sharingan.

Itachi flashed awake, his eyes shooting open blazing red, just in time to dodge another attack. He knew he could win this. He could see that this man was weaker than he was. This was going to be a walk in the park.

Yori saw the red eyes from before and felt her heart stop for a moment. She had thought she had imagined it before. But now it was here. It was real.

"The sharingan," Kakashi stated under his breath. "Does that mean?"


	10. Chapter 10

Bonjour mes amis! And welcome to chapitre 10! Sorry...been speaking a lot of French lately, being in paris and all. But things are definitely slowing down here and I have a lot more time to write. Anyway...I am kind of so so and this chapter. I had two angles of was thinking of going with and I seem to be leaning more towards one than the other. But maybe I'll combine them and make one super cool awesome ending. So only a few more chapters to go!

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Chapter 10

"Sharingan?" Yori asked, looking up at Kakashi.

"Hai, Sharingan. It's a kekkei genkai exclusive to the Uchiha clan. Although there are few who possess it today." Kakashi explained.

"Kekkei genkai? But why in the world would Itachi have something like that?" Yori questioned further.

Kakashi looked down at her for a moment, reading the expression on her face. "Because Itachi is from an elite clan of Ninja. If anything he was one of the strongest ninja to ever come out of that clan."

Yori wasn't sure what to say. She knew there was something different about Itachi, something strange. But she never imagined he would actually be a shinobi.

"Then he is…the missing nin they're looking for." Yori finally said rather disappointedly.

Kakashi nodded, closing his eyes equally as disappointed. "Yes, he is."

"And you've come to take him, haven't you?" She asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yes."

There was nothing left to be said. It was so much to take in all at once. She wanted to ask more. She wanted to know why he became a missing nin. She wondered just what he had done.

Yet then again she didn't want to know anymore. She loved him and knowing would only make things harder. She knew the man he was now. Although he was confused at times, she knew deep down he cared for the people around him. She couldn't picture him ever doing anything to become a wanted criminal.

"He tried to kill…the sands kazekage?" She continued.

"Essentially yes. In fact tried isn't even the word. He did kill the sands kazekage, but fortunately there were means of brining him back, although it did call for a sacrifice. But you have to understand the entire story before you point the finger directly at him. Itachi didn't work alone, in fact in that incident he played a very small part. The organization he was with was the cause of the kazekage's death."

Yori listened to the man's words, trying to block them out but unable to. She didn't want to know this. She wanted to continue to see him as the man she had gotten to know over the last two weeks. She didn't question anymore. She simply turned her attention to the fight that was taking place in front of her, and hoped for the outcome to be the one she wanted.

Itachi stood in front of the sand ninja, his face completely void of emotion. He could feel the chakra flowing evenly through him, and it felt good. He had gone without this power for so long now that he had it back it was like an amazing high.

"Oh, so you're going to get serious now?" The sand ninja asked.

"I don't have to get serious with you. You're just a grunt who his underestimating his opponent." Itachi replied.

The sand ninja glared down at him. He took one step forward, standing right in front of Itachi. He was nearly a foot taller and at least twice as wide. It was like a bug fighting a bird. But somehow Itachi was not even phased by the man's presence.

"You think I'm just a weak little grunt huh? That's pretty big talk for someone who was just getting thrown around." The sand ninja spat into Itachi's face.

Itachi didn't even flinch, this man's intimidation tactics meant nothing to him.

"Yes, you're right. And I have to thank you for that. You helped me out when you did that." Itachi said concisely.

"You trying to be funny?"

"No."

"Well you won't be cracking jokes after I beat your face in!"

With those words the sand ninja swung once again with his huge fists. He was obviously primarily a taijutsu user, which was completely useless against Itachi.

The fist seemed to swing down in slow motion as Itachi watched it come near him. He wasn't afraid at all. It was an easy move to dodge. Without missing a beat Itachi jumped up, dodging the attack, and formed several hand seals.

The sand ninja looked up to see where his opponent had gone, and was met by a horrifying sight.

"Gaton goukakyu no jutsu!" Itachi said followed by a large fire ball hurling towards his enemy.

The sand ninja's eyes grew wide as he jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the grand fireball that was barreling towards him.

"Not too bad!" The sand ninja said. He then landed back onto the ground and slammed his fist into the dirt, cracking it towards Itachi, chakra flying up from the cracks.

The moment the man had formed the handseals Itachi knew exactly what to do. Without even trying he quickly copied it and sent the jutsu back towards his enemy.

"What the!" The Sand ninja said as he braced for the impact of the chakra.

"He's remembered then." Kakashi said as he watched the battle ensue.

"He's…remembered." Yori repeated sadly.

"Maybe not everything…but at least the fact that he is an elite ninja. He knows he can fight and he knows how to use his techniques." Kakashi explained further.

After sending the jutsu flying back towards the sand ninja, Itachi quickly formed a few more hand seals then faded into the wind.

The sand ninja looked around frantically, trying to find the missing nin.

"Are you hiding now? Afraid?" The sand ninja said mockingly.

"I'm not the one who should be afraid." Itachi's voice echoed through the air.

"Come on, I think you can stop this ridiculous charade!"

At that moment six Itachis appeared, surrounding the sand ninja, circling him.

"You think some silly genjutsu is going to get me? You're kidding right?"

"I have no doubts in my jutsu. But if you can break it, by all means do." One of the Itachis egged him on.

"Fine!" The sand ninja yelled out then slapped his hands together. With a rush the chakra began to rapidly flow out of his body.

Itachi watched impatiently. Even if the man did manage to escape his genjutsu he was still going to lose. There was no doubt about that.

"Kai!" The man yelled out, and just as he had promised the jutsu released, bringing them back to the real world.

"Not bad." Itachi said flatly. He wasn't impressed though, just annoyed. Of course, he knew he could have stopped the man, but why bother?

"Don't talk down to me! You're worth twice as much alive, but I'll kill you if I have to!" The sand ninja yelled then once again went after Itachi.

Itachi cocked one eyebrow, mulling over the words the man had just said. Once more the attacks were generally useless, but he was tired of playing around and wanted this to end now.

As the ninja swung Itachi easily grasped onto his arm, dragging him down to his level, then stared him right in the eyes.

"Mangekyou Sharingan."

Just like in everyone one of his dreams his eyes changed and the two of them sunk into a world of red. This was Itachi's world. This was the world he had complete control over. This was the end of that man.

Yori watched, not knowing what to think. They were just staring at each other and then the sand ninja suddenly let out a blood curdling scream. She didn't understand why. Itachi had only grabbed him. And now he was practically dieing.

"Tsukuyomi." Kakashi said under his breath. "Then there's no doubt about it. That just doesn't happen on instinct. Itachi knows who he is."

With one last cry the enemy ninja fell down to the ground, completely limp and unmoving. It was if he had taken a sever beating in a matter of seconds.

For just a moment Itachi continued to stare down at the large unconscious man on the floor, then he sharply turned his attention to Kakashi, an angry intent in his eyes.

Seeing the flaming red eyes staring at him, Kakashi immediately took a fighting stance and placed one hand on his forehead protector.

Itachi took a few slow steps forward, always keeping his eyes focused on Kakashi.

"You know you won't win if you fight me now Itachi. You can't do much after using Tsukuyomi. It drains too much out of you." Kakashi reminded him.

But Kakashi's threats were no use. Itachi continued his slow but powerful approach and he showed absolutely no signs of stopping.

"Fine then!" With those words Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, revealing the left eye that had been hidden from sight this whole time.

Yori looked on in shock as she saw the same red eye as Itachi's. Last night she had thought she had imagined it, and now there were two people that had it.

With one careful shift of his weight Itachi strengthened his stance, seemingly ready to take out this ninja who had come and ruined everything he had.

"Itachi-san! Stop!" Yori yelled out jumping to her feet.

Itachi flinched and took his gaze off of Kakashi. Almost instantly his eyes faded back to normal as he looked toward Yori, then out of no where he fell down to his knees.


	11. Chapter 11

So I am sick...in paris! Yay for me. But on a brighter note I have plenty of time to write now. So here it is...chapter 11.

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Chapter 11

"How did that feel?" A voice asked Itachi as he lay in darkness.

"Good." He answered, staring into the abyss.

"Do you want to know more?" The voice questioned.

"Yes. I want to know who I am." Itachi said then sat up.

Out of the shadow of this strange black nothingness he found himself in, a tall figure walked out. He looked much like Itachi, the same somber expression, the same dark eyes and hair, but there were certainly differences.

For one he was definitely younger by at least a few years. His hair was slightly lighter than Itachi's and styled in a short, slicked back cut. His eyes had much more hate in them as well. They seemed to be looking through Itachi, as if the hate was directed towards him specifically.

The clothes he wore was especially unique. His white shirt was open in the front, revealing a rather toned chest. Around his waist was a sort of purple rope, tying up a wrap of sorts, and his pants were long and black.

"Who are you?" Itachi asked, finding the young man in front of him oddly familiar.

"As the one before me said, I am a piece of you. Although unlike him, I am not a physical trait. I'm a part of your past, a part that you may not want to remember." The boy explained.

"If you're a part of my past, then why would I not want to remember?" Itachi asked a little irritated.

"If you really want to know, then all you have to do is to listen to your worst feelings," the boy began taking a step forward. "Your worst fears. I am that part of you. I am the part that you've tried so desperately to remember but simply can't because deep down you're afraid your suspicions will be correct."

"I don't understand what you mean. I'm not afraid of knowing who I am." Itachi argued.

The boy continued to slowly approach Itachi, dragging out his point even further. "Look back at the things you've already seen. Your dreams, your thoughts, your hunches even, that is what I am."

"My dreams? You mean the nightmares I have?" Itachi asked still thoroughly confused.

"Oh they're not nightmares, they're memories. Memories that have been suppressed due to the sheer horror of them. I'll ask again, do you want to know more?" The boy said still closing the gap between the two of them.

"Of course I do! Just tell me!" Itachi yelled frustrated.

The boy stopped just a few feet in front of Itachi and grinned wickedly. "Fine then."

In one swift motion the boy moved from a few feet away to being face to face with Itachi. He grabbed him and pressed into him, putting his lips right by Itachi's ear.

The moment the boy had moved Itachi jumped. He had moved so quickly that the next thing he knew he was being grabbed a hold of.

For a few seconds they stood there, their bodies pressed together in an awkward embrace. A chill ran down Itachi's spine as he felt the boy's warm breath hitting his neck. It was something completely unreal. And yet Itachi only wanted to know more. He didn't care what happened. He didn't care if they had to stand like this forever. All that mattered now was figuring out just who this boy was.

Finally he heard the boy take in a deep breath and the soft sounds of him parting his lips preparing to talk.

"Foolish brother…" The boy whispered sharply into Itachi's ear.

Itachi's eyes grew wide with those words. His mind flashed back to that moment in his dream, the moment he saw that frightening looking man saying those words to that poor scared child. He knew right then exactly what it all meant.

"If you want to kill me, hate me, despise me, and live in an unsightly way. Run away and cling to life…" The boy continued.

Itachi closed his eyes, sadness overwhelming his body. He still wasn't sure what he had done, but he knew who this boy was, and that he was the one who tried to kill him.

"Do you remember those words?" The boy hissed out and tightened his grip around Itachi.

"I'm sorry…Sasuke." Itachi whispered, sadness filling his voice.

Sasuke pushed Itachi away, causing him to stagger a bit. "It's too late now, nii-san. You had the opportunity to forget it all, to forget me, your past, your everything, but now that you know who I am you have no choice but to continue on to find the last remaining pieces of your past."

Itachi looked up at the boy dismayed. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do to take it back now. In a sense he was happy he knew who the little boy was, he was happy that he was getting closer to his past, but he was also afraid that he would not like what else he would find.

"I hated you, nii-san, despised you. And I lived on. And I tried to kill you, and now I will do it again." Sasuke said as he pulled the sword he was carrying on his back out of its sheath.

Itachi wasn't afraid, he didn't even want to run. He stared at him, awaiting the blow to hit.

In one large swing the sword came down on him. Itachi stood there, staring into his little brothers eyes, wondering where all that hate had come from. As the sword struck Itachi frowned and said softly, "Forgive me Sasuke."

With a gasp Itachi awoke from his strange slumber only to find Yori and Kakashi staring down at him. The sun had already gone down and he could hear a fire blazing near him.

"Itachi-san, are you alright?" Yori asked concerned and happy at the same time.

Itachi sat up slowly, his head reeling from everything that had just happened. He wasn't sure what to think about everything.

"Are you recovered enough to move? Shouta is still out pretty cold, but I can carry him if need be." Kakashi asked rather nonchalantly.

Itachi turned his attention to Kakashi, not really sure what was going on. He didn't remember much after his fight began with the sand ninja. But by the tension in the air, he could tell something strange was going on.

"What happened?" He asked groggily.

"You defeated that guy and then you looked like you were going to go after kakashi-san, but then you suddenly collapsed. You've been out for nearly four hours." Yori explained.

"I…I defeated the sand nin…" Itachi said, when suddenly everything flooded back into his mind.

He doubled over, holding his head in his hand. The whole world was spinning. He wasn't sure what to think, or what to do. By the end of that fight he was acting on instinct, getting rid of the threat. He knew Kakashi was his enemy, and he knew he had to do away with him quickly. But now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure why that was his first instinct.

"You used tsukuyomi. Your body isn't used to it anymore, I'm sure. You probably used too much Chakra too fast." Kakashi explained.

"That ninja was not a sand ninja…you know that right?" Itachi said, as the world came back to a stop.

"I know. He was a missing nin himself, a bounty hunter originally from the sand village. But it doesn't matter now. He's not getting back up." Kakashi told him flatly.

Itachi sighed, not knowing what to think. He didn't want to say anything else, at least not in front of Yori, but he had something important to ask Kakashi.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Itachi finally stated as he carefully stood up.

"I'll go with you!" Yori said worriedly.

"No. Stay here. I need some time to clear my head." Itachi said as gently yet firmly as he could.

Yori was a bit taken aback by his reaction. But she respected it. She was sure this was a lot for him to take in. And she wasn't even sure what all he actually remembered now.

Without another word Itachi walked off into the woods, leaving the three people behind. He had to be alone for now. He had to gather his thoughts.

After walking for a while he leaned himself up against a tree and looked up into the moonlit sky. A familiar dark figure was perched on the tree branch above him.

"Don't trust me to go off by myself?" He asked.

"I didn't feel you were going to run off, but I did get the impression you wanted to talk to me." Kakashi said as he jumped down in front of him.

"Yeah…I did." Itachi answered looking down at the ground.

"Then go ahead, talk." Kakashi said, leaning against an adjacent tree and folding his arms.

"I have to ask you…about Sasuke."


	12. Chapter 12

woot, 2000 hits baby! -does a crazy weird happy dance- ahem sorry.

This is a painfully short chapter, I apologize ahead of time for that. But oh well.

So here are some clarifications. For 1, Itachi is supposed to be OOC. I purposely made him OOC because he doesn't even know who he is. 2, I'll clear up the question of age. This takes place, as stated in the first chapter, directly after the Itachi/Sasuke fight at the end, which hasn't actually happened yet hence the fact that I am not mentioning anything about it. At the start of the series Itachi is 17, after a 2 and a half year time skip he would be 19 and a half. Now if we give some time for certain events to take place he would be 20. So therefore, in this story Itachi is 20. Hope that clears some stuff up! Keep up the commenting, it's the only thing that keeps me writing!

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Chapter 12 

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked suspiciously, putting up his guard just a little. "What about Sasuke?"

"He's the one who did this to me, I know that. And I…" Itachi began.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stop right there." Kakashi cut him off, placing a hand behind his back ready to grab a kunai.

Itachi let out a sigh and turned his attention back down to the ground. "I don't have any plans of fighting you, Kakashi-san. We're from the same village, aren't we?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and slid the Kunai he had pulled out back into his pouch. "You were ready to fight me earlier? And being from the same village has never stopped you before. A missing nin usually doesn't care about alliances such as those."

"Right now I don't even know why I'm a missing nin. And right now I don't care. All I want to know about is my little brother." Itachi explained.

"Sasuke is doing fine. He's back in the village living his life knowing you're dead." Kakashi said shortly.

"Good. And I assume he is the reason my being alive is supposed to be kept a secret, right?" Itachi asked.

"That's right. Sasuke lived before solely to kill you, now that he has accomplished that he can live easy." Kakashi informed Itachi.

"Were you planning on taking me and locking me up, hiding me away from him?" Itachi inquired further.

"Not exactly that, but along those lines yes. We may have to even kill you if need be. You're a criminal no matter if you remember it or not."

"So how did you find out I was here?" Itachi pressed on.

Kakashi took in a deep breath and looked around to make sure there was no one listening onto their conversation and then continued to explain.

"Yamasuki-san was trying to find a way to help you regain your memory. He had nothing in his possession that could help you, so he turned to a medical specialist."

"A medical specialist in Konoha who knew who I was." Itachi finished.

"Exactly. The moment we got word you were alive my team and I were assigned to the mission of escorting Yamasuki-san and his family. We were to keep the situation secret until Yamasuki-san arrived safely at Konoha and I could confirm what he said." Kakashi explained even further.

"Why are you telling me all this now? Aren't you afraid I'll ruin your plans?" Itachi questioned.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "You already knew my plan. So telling it to you makes no difference now. Besides by now Yamasuki-san and the rest of my team should be almost to Konoha, where a second confirmation can be made and back up sent to take you in."

"And what makes you think I'll let you just take me?" Itachi asked with a smirk on his face.

"I never said we'd just take you. If force was necessary, we'd use it. But I know you Itachi, the real you. You wouldn't want to fight an unnecessary battle. You've learned to think like a Shiboi again which means you would take the most logical route before getting yourself killed or injured." Kakashi stated bluntly.

"You're right. You're analytical skills are sharp, Kakashi-san." Itachi let out an hmph at the end of his sentence.

The two of them stood in silence, not even looking at each other. Itachi was still unsure of a lot of things, but he knew now that he had opened the gates to his memory they would start to flood in. It was only a matter of time before he remembered more.

"Yori, you didn't have to come out here I would have been right back." Kakashi stated, breaking their conversation.

"I…I'm sorry. I was just worried is all." Yori said as she approached the two of them.

Itachi turned to look at the sad expression that was displayed across the young woman's face. He missed her constant smiling, and he knew he was the cause for its disappearance.

"Shouta is awake…by the way. He's a little light headed from the knock but other than that he's alright." She continued, letting her eyes drift to the floor.

This whole time Itachi had been so lost in himself he hadn't even thought about what Yori felt. He had been so focused on his own guilt that he never really bothered to take her into consideration at all.

With a smile, Itachi stood up from his leaning position and headed towards her. "We should get going then." He said with a hint of contentment in his voice.

Kakashi nodded in accordance then in a flash took off to go get Shouta and all their things, leaving Yori and Itachi alone.

"I…Itachi-san, is everything alright?" Yori asked cautiously.

Itachi's smile filled his face, an extremely rare sight, as he stood looking down at her. With a gentle hand he brushed her cheek then bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Everything's fine now." He whispered sweetly to her.

Normally this gesture would have made Yori happier than ever, but now it only made her more concerned. As he pulled away from her he continued to smile outwardly. However, although his lips were smiling, the intent of his eyes seemed wicked, almost hateful. She couldn't place it exactly, but it was almost like he was slowly changing into a completely different person. The cool calmness that constantly resided in his dark eyes was gone and replaced by something more sinister.

_Itachi, what's happening to you? _She asked inwardly as he walked past her.

She turned to watch him as he headed back towards the camp side. The same broad shoulders, toned arms, long dark hair, but a completely different man. She had wanted him to regain his memory, but now she wanted the man she knew to come back.

Yori followed a good distance behind, feeling slightly awkward about all of this. Above all else, she wanted this feeling to go away. She tried to ignore it, tried to fight it off, but simply couldn't. She didn't trust Itachi. She felt that now that he was so close to knowing who he really was, things were going to get even worse.

_Itachi, you're so different now. Just yesterday you were gentle and kind, but now your eyes seem so intense, so strange. What's happening to you? _She thought as she followed him to the camp sight.


	13. Chapter 13

I was listening to Hoshi no suna by Gackt and was completely inspired. –sighs- oh I love that man. He's so damn sexy! He looks just like Cloud from FF7 advent children in the video Vanilla. I just wanna glomp him! Ahem sorry…back onto the subject. This is an exceptionally long chapter, but as I explained I was very inspired. Oh yeah and it's a little weird too! But it's sooo much better than the writing I had been doing in the last couple chapters. I think I finally have inspiration again. Yay!

Btw, I totally procrastinated in writing my 1000 word essay to write this instead!

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Chapter 13 

The trip to the next town didn't take nearly as much time as anyone in the group had expected. Within a good half hour of walking they were there, standing at the gates.

Since night had fallen the town was settled down, the streets dead. The only people in sight were two younger shinobi sitting at the gates, obviously guarding them from unwanted visitors.

"State your purpose." The young female shinobi said to the group as they approached the gates.

"We're merchants. Normally we'd come during the day but we got held up. We're just going to stay the night, sell our merchandise in the morning, and be on our way." Yori explained exhausted.

"What are you names? Apparently there's been a few problems with several bandits and missing nin hanging around, we need to check to make sure you're not on the list." The other shinobi, a young boy probably 13 stated.

"Yamasuki Yori, and the boy is my brother Shouta." Yori started.

The young female ninja rifled through a list of names then shook her head. "You two are cleared. But I still need the other two names."

Itachi looked over at Kakashi, knowing his name would probably be on that list. He could take care of this quick if he wanted to. He could simply put these two into a sort of hypnotic state and walk right by. But the last thing he wanted was trouble.

"Hatake Kakashi and this is Uchiha Itachi." Kakashi stated, turning his attention to Itachi.

Itachi narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, then watched the two ninja flip through the names. After another few seconds the two guards looked up and nodded.

"Alright, you both seem to check out." The young boy said then returned to his post.

The group walked past, Itachi keeping his guard up to make sure no one was going to come out after him. But as they made their way into the town it was obviously that his name really was not on that list.

"Kakashi, if I'm a missing nin then why was I not on that list?" Itachi asked once they were out of earshot.

"Isn't it obvious? You're presumed dead. So your name has been crossed off as deceased." Kakashi explained.

"Hmph, well shows that you all aren't very thorough about making sure someone is actually dead, are you?" Shouta said, the first thing he had said since they had started walking again.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and looked over at the young boy, who was still resting on Kakashi's back. He still couldn't quite place why the boy hated him so much. He had a few ideas, but each one was absolutely childish.

"Lets just be grateful we didn't have any problems and hope there is a room somewhere." Yori chimed in, still sounding rather short and irritated. "It being so late, we will be lucky if we can manage to get a room for four people."

"That's true. But it looks like that one there is still open." Kakashi said, gesturing to a small inn, the only one with lights still on.

Yori nodded and headed over ahead of the group to go talk to the owner.

After a brief conversation they were fortunate enough to find that the inn had two rooms left, so of course they took them.

When they entered the first room, they found that there was only one large bed in it. So someone was going to have to bunk with someone else. It wasn't that big of a deal though, it wasn't the first time this had happened. Yori was rather used to having to share a bed with her little brother. The second room, fortunately, had two small beds, perfect for Kakashi and Itachi to stay in.

Kakashi set Shouta on the large bed then straightened up. "Alright, I'm heading to my room. Don't go anywhere without telling me first."

"We won't. We're way too tired to even consider leaving." Yori assured him.

"Good." With that Kakashi walked out of the room leaving Shouta, Yori, and Itachi standing there alone.

"Yori, can I talk to you for a minute?" Itachi asked bluntly.

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'm exhausted." Yori asked with a big yawn.

Itachi paused for a moment, not really knowing what to say. "Yeah…I guess so."

"Ok good." With that she playfully flopped onto the bed then curled up into a little ball.

Itachi backed up slowly, keeping his eyes on her for just a moment, then turned around and walked out the door.

As soon as Itachi was gone, Yori's smile faded being replaced by complete and udder sadness. She didn't want to cry, she was tired of crying. But she didn't want to smile either. All she wanted was to lie here and drift into sleep, escaping from the world.

As Itachi opened the door he saw Kakashi standing, staring out the window. Things were so confusing now, so bizarre. Not too long ago he didn't know who he was at all and now everything was rushing back to him bit by bit. There were only a few pieces left to this puzzle.

"Are you sure you want to know who you really are, Itachi?" Kakashi asked, not turning away from his gaze.

"Of course I do. I don't care who I am. How much worse can it get?" Itachi responded.

"Much worse." Is all Kakashi said then turned to the single bed next to the window.

Itachi didn't want to talk anymore. He ignored the ninja's warning, brushing it off as if it had never been said, and laid down in the other bed, staring up at the ceiling, praying to fall asleep.

Hours past and Itachi finally fell asleep, but only briefly. He awoke with a jolt as he heard the door to the room creek open and a tall figure walk out. Changing his gaze over to the other bed, he noticed that Kakashi was gone.

"I wonder what he's doing?" he asked himself.

At that moment there was another creek and the door slowly crept back open.

"What were you doing Kakashi-san?" Itachi asked.

"Itachi-san." A small voice called out as the door pushed open further.

Itachi immediately sat up the moment he heard that familiar voice.

"Yori? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I woke you. But I couldn't sleep, not like that. You said you wanted to talk, so then let's talk." She said coming completely into the room.

"Ok. Come sit down." He said, patting the bed next to him.

"What did you want to talk about?" Yori asked with a smile.

"I guess you were just tired earlier. But you seemed like something was wrong." Itachi explained to her.

Yori looked down at the ground, a little embarrassed by her earlier behavior. "I'm sorry. It's just so much to take in. And you're changing so quickly. You went from being the confused, injured man to being this powerful ninja. And not just any ninja a missing nin. That means you're a criminal. Which is a little difficult for a girl to process, you know?"

Itachi chuckled and shook his head. "I know it's hard for me to process too. But I feel better than ever now. Even if I am a criminal, it doesn't mean I have to go back to that life right?"

"I suppose not. But you'll be running from it forever. They already know you're alive." Yori reminded him.

"I know. But that's ok. I have you, right?" Itachi said with a slight grin.

The happiness on his face, and the positivism of his voice made Yori feel much better about everything. She had seen him slipping away from her, but he seemed to be pulling back in.

"You're right." She said then kissed his cheek.

Itachi's smile grew bigger and he quickly returned the kiss she had given him but on her lips. As long as he didn't lose her he could do anything.

Yori reached up and gently ran her fingers through his thick black hair. She loved the way it felt, so silky and cool on her fingertips. She never wanted to lose this. It was what she wanted for the rest of her life, to be with him.

"I…I love you." She whispered gently, pressing her forehead to his.

"You do? Even though you know who I am now?" He asked.

"Uh huh. It doesn't matter, right? It's in the past." She reminded him then kissed him again.

"You shouldn't stay in here too long, Kakashi might get mad." Itachi told her.

"He won't be coming back any time soon. Apparently he's meeting up with some correspondence or something. You know, official ninja business." She said that last part rather sarcastically.

"Right. Ninja business." Itachi said then stole another kiss.

Their talking and kissing went on for at least another five minutes, before the talking finally subsided completely and was replaced by just kissing.

With long slender fingers Itachi pulled the hair ribbon Yori had been wearing out of her hair, letting it fall down around her shoulders. He loved the way it looked around her face. It acted like a frame to a beautiful painting, only better.

He curled one long strand around his index finger then pulled down, letting it uncurl, as he moved his hand down her covered shoulder. After it completely unwrapped itself, he made his way to her throat, and then realized it too was covered.

"I'm sorry." He said sadly, remembering what he had done to her.

"I keep telling you it's alright. You don't have to keep apologizing to me." Yori told him, still smiling.

"But I hurt you. I could have killed you." Itachi told her, sadness overtaking his voice.

"Stop. I'm fine. You didn't know what you were doing." She told him with a giggle.

"But I…" But before he could finish Yori fiercely kissed him, shutting him up.

Itachi was a little surprised by her reaction, but then again he found it in a sense cute. Her playfulness was coming back to her. Things were good between them again.

With the force of the kiss the two of them fell back onto the bed. Itachi looked up at her wide eyed, with a smile spanning his face. He had missed this so much.

Playfully Yori stuck out her tongue at him then grinned. Her emerald green eyes were the same ones he had seen the day he woke up. They were so bright and beautiful he couldn't look away from them. He had a pair of the most powerful eyes in the world, and yet he felt that the eyes he was staring into now were even more dangerous than his own. These were the only eyes in the world that could entrance him.

With one strong movement Itachi rolled over, laying Yori on her back, and lay on top of her. The look on her face turned from playfulness, to shock, to embarrassment then back to shock, all in one second.

Her face was getting redder by the second, going through every shade of the color imaginable. She had never done this before, never been this intimate with anyone. She wasn't sure what to think, or what to do.

Yori's expression made Itachi smile. He loved the way she looked when she blushed. It made him want to be with her even more. But of course, he didn't want to push her into anything she didn't want.

"Itachi-san…" Yori started.

"Will you stop that?" Itachi said.

"Stop what?" She asked concerned.

"Calling me Itachi-san." Itachi told her with a chuckle in his voice.

"Oh. I'm sorry it's just habit." She said very sincerely apologetic.

"Don't apologize. Just stop calling me that." Itachi said again with a bit of a chuckle.

"Ok, Itachi." Yori said smiling.

Itachi grinned down at her then continued to kiss her. He loved her innocence, he loved her smile, and he loved her positive nature. He could never give this up, not for anything.

_You can't have this for much longer. You chose your path already. You're going to have to give it up in the end. _A voice rang through his head.

_Not now. I don't want this now. Just let me be. _He responded internally.

"Itachi, is something wrong?" Yori asked, noticing the sudden change in his expression.

"No. It's nothing." He said, the smile growing back on his face.

"Oh ok. You just looked confused there for a second." She told him.

"Don't worry about it." He said then once again kissed her.

With the weight of Itachi's body pressing down on her it suddenly became clear to Yori exactly what she was getting herself into. Her heart was beginning to beat faster and her breath was getting shallow. She had never pictured herself in this situation, never imagined it actually happening. And now here she was, and above anything else she was more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life.

The moment Itachi's lips left hers and began to travel down her cheek to her neck she felt a sense of panic wash over her. What in the world was she doing? Was she crazy? This was not her at all. How could she be doing this? Why in the world did she want this? She wanted to protest, and yet she found herself unable to. She was enjoying it far too much.

"It…Itachi." She said, trying desperately not to ruin the moment.

Itachi looked up at her concerned. "I'm sorry. We can stop."

"No, no it's not that." She said frantically, not wanting that in the least. "It's just…um…well...I've never…"

"I understand." He said then laid a gentle peck on her cheek.

Yori closed her eyes and reveled in his warmth for just a moment. Her mind was certainly telling her no. This wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to want this. But her body was telling otherwise.

She let out a rather nervous sigh, not knowing what to do. So many things ran through her mind. She was practically arguing with herself.

You shouldn't be doing this, what would your father think?

He's not here, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

And what if Kakashi comes back and finds you like this? What will happen then?

He's gone, he won't come back. And if he does what does it matter?

And Shouta, he's already upset about before, what happens if he finds out?

It's none of his business anyway he's my little brother, not the other way around. He can't tell me what I can and cannot do.

As Itachi kissed under her chin, he brought up one hand and placed to fingers on the small fasten that held the collar of her shirt together. He was hesitant at first, waiting for her to protest. He didn't want to go anywhere she didn't want to go. But after a few seconds of playing with the tiny button, he gently undid it, revealing her pale bruised throat.

The hand print was very obvious, the once purplish marks were now darker and staring him in the face. Once again his heart sank. And for just a second he questioned the choice he had made.

"I'm…" He started.

"Don't…what did I just say?" Yori whispered right into his ear.

Itachi didn't say anything else, he simply let out a sad sigh. Gently, trying not to further irritate the wound, he pushed the collar down completely exposing her neck.

Again as gingerly as possible, Itachi kissed the skin he had just exposed. Despite the bruises, it was still smooth and soft like the rest of her.

Yori cringed a bit, as even the gentle touch of his lips twinged a bit. But it wasn't unbearable, and she didn't want to ruin the moment, so she didn't say anything. Instead she just looked past the pain and tried to focus on how wonderful his touch felt.

Without even realizing she was doing it, Yori slid her hands underneath Itachi's shirt then ran them up his back. With her touch she could feel the muscles in his back tense up as he let out a groan.

The moment he felt her soft hands touch his back Itachi had completely lost himself. He never wanted this to end. He loved every minute of it.

_Don't be foolish. You can't have this. After you discover the truth you'll have to give it up. _That little voice spoke again.

Itachi ignored it, pressing on and unbuttoning another fasten on her shirt, exposing just a small part of her chest. He kissed his way down from her neck to the newly uncovered part of her body. It felt so nice against his lips. He wanted more of it.

_You can ignore it if you want, but it's a fact. There's no getting around it. You can't have her and your old life all at once. Even if they don't capture and kill you, you'll be running forever. You don't want that with her. _The voice was getting louder and clearer now.

"Itachi…" Yori found herself saying, her body writhing beneath his.

Itachi didn't say anything, somehow just knowing she didn't actually want to talk. He continued on, shifting a bit on top of her. Supporting himself with one arm, he took the other and wrapped his fingers around the bottom of her shirt. With a tender touch, he slid his hand underneath it, feeling soft skin that he had never felt before.

Her abdomen tightened as a knot formed in her stomach. There was no stopping now. Her mind had stopped arguing with her, and now her body was in complete control.

The skin was wonderfully silky. Itachi had never felt something so incredibly soft before. Although she was thin, her stomach wasn't very toned, which he found extremely sexy. Even if he didn't have his memory completely back, he knew what his taste in woman was. When girls were too toned, it just made them look almost manly. This was absolutely perfect in his eyes.

He slid his hand down her tiny sides and around to her back. Carefully, but firmly he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her even closer to him.

Yori followed his lead, and arched her back, opening her chest and exposing even more skin. She let out a soft moan when she felt Itachi's lips touch her now very prominent collar bone. She was completely relaxed, letting him take her.

Itachi let go of her back, letting it fall back to the bed, completely satisfied by the reaction she had given him. Slowly he moved the same hand up her body, over her shirt, to yet another button. This time he was extremely hesitant, because once this button was open they would be on a whole new level.

Yori picked up on his hesitation and smiled. She loved the fact that he was so concerned and nervous. It made her feel much less awkward about the whole situation, knowing his nervousness matched her own.

She pulled her hands from his back and placed them on her own chest. With small slender fingers she fiddled with the button, purposely holding off on opening it, increases the anticipation.

Itachi stopped kissing only for a moment, just to watch the moment unfold. He was completely entranced by her fingers playing with the small fasten, teasing him.

_Don't be an idiot! You'll both regret this later! You can't have her! You can't do this! _The voice screamed at him.

Itachi shook it off, blinking a few times and refocused his mind. He was not going to let this voice that constantly pestered him to ruin this moment.

Yori pushed the fasten together, loosening the button, then pulled it apart but still held her shirt closed for just a moment. Then with a playful grin she let it go and placed her hand onto Itachi's chin and pulled him up to her lips.

Itachi welcomed her playfulness fully and completely. He loved this side of her. It was even better than the dream he had started to have the other night. This was real, it was actually happening, it wasn't just his mind playing games with him. There was just no way.

Carefully he ran his hand down her neck to her shoulder, pushing the shirt down a bit, letting him feel even more new territory, all the while kissing her. It seemed like every new place he felt was even softer than the last. It made him crave her.

_Baka! I'm warning you! You'll ruin her life if you keep this up! You'll break her heart. You can't stay with her! You have to stop now! You chose already! Even now you're beginning to change. You're doing this under the presumption that you'll be the same man after you find the truth. But think, even now your mind processes things differently! You're darker, colder now! She's the only thing to keep you grounded. But you'll lose her! Stop now! STOP! _The voice screamed out persistently getting louder, until Itachi couldn't stand it any longer.

"Damn it, shut up." He said under his breath.

"Hmm, what did you say?" Yori said, still lost in their moment.

"It's nothing." He said, the smile coming back then kissed her again.

_You can't ignore it. It'll keep coming no matter what you do! You're evil, Itachi! Think about it! You're a missing nin! You're a criminal! You think she'd actually want that? Wake up Itachi, this isn't real. _The voice kept hounding him.

Itachi growled and shut his eyes tight. He was getting very frustrated by this. He wasn't going to listen to some disembodied voice. He could tell the difference between reality and fantasy and this was certainly real.

"What's wrong?" Yori asked in a breathy voice, breaking the kiss for a moment.

"Nothing." He said, almost growling then kissed her even more fiercely now.

_That's it. I have no other choice. _The voice stated.

Following the final warning, the door creaked open, making both Itachi and Yori jump and scramble to a sitting position, trying to cover any evidence of their actions.

"Kakashi-san, where have you been?" Itachi asked, trying to be as casual as he could be.

The door opened even further, and in the suddenly blinding light from the hallway stood a short shadowed figure. Itachi couldn't place who it was, it was too blurred from the light.

"Shouta, what are you doing awake?" He asked.

The figure didn't answer. It just continued to walk into the room, coming more into focus as it made its way closer.

"Itachi-san?" A familiar voice called out.

Itachi turned and looked over at Yori. "Yori, I told you not to call me that." Itachi reminded her.

"I didn't say anything, Itachi." Yori told him.

"Itachi-san…" the small voice called out again.

Itachi turned to the figure in the doorway. It was now clear to him just who it was. He turned his gaze back and forth between the two women, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Yori, but you…how? What's going on?" Itachi asked confused.

"Itachi, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Yori asked very worried now.

"I came to say goodbye, Itachi-san." The girl in the door said with a sweet smile.

"What are you talking about? Say goodbye? Where are you going?" He questioned frantically.

She didn't reply. She simply smiled at him and closed her eyes, ready to fade away.

He jumped to his feet and began to head towards the young woman when he felt something wrap around his wrist. He looked back, to see a very worried Yori looking up at him.

"What's wrong? Where are you going?" She begged.

"I…I have to stop her!" He cried out.

"Why? She's me isn't she? And I'm right here." Yori reminded him.

"But…but…" Itachi didn't know what to say. It was true, she was sitting there, so how could she be leaving him?

"Just…come back to me. Please." Yori begged.

Itachi's chest was heaving, his head spinning, completely lost. He didn't know what to do now. He kept trying to wake up, but couldn't. It couldn't have been a dream. It felt so real. If it was a hallucination, it was a good one.

"Yori! Yori don't leave!" He yelled out.

"Itachi! I'm right here!" Yori cried out to him.

Itachi kept his eyes focused on the girl fading away in front of him. He was in a state of panic.

Finally he felt the grip on his wrist loosen as the last remaining parts of the girl faded away. He ran towards her, but it was too late. Dropping to his knees, he felt himself begin to sob.

"Itachi…" Yori said then began to chuckle wickedly.

The sound of the laughter made Itachi immediately stop his sobbing and turn his attention to the person sitting on the bed behind him.

The voice started off as hers, then faded into something more sinister and deep. This was definitely not the girl he was in love with.

"They can't hide you forever, nii-san." The voice said harshly.

Itachi's eye's grew wide as he saw not the woman he had been with before, but his little brother sitting on the bed behind him.

"Sasuke, what did you do?" He demanded.

"I haven't done anything. You chose this, remember? I told you once you chose this path there was no going back." Sasuke informed him.

"Then…this is a dream?" Itachi asked, a hint of hope filling his voice.

"In a sense, yes. It's more like a vision I suppose. A reminder from the pieces of your memory that are still missing." Sasuke explained.

"A reminder?" Itachi asked.

"Yes. A reminder that you can't have her, no matter how hard you ignore the facts. You can push me away all you want, but eventually I'll find you and kill you and everyone you care about." Sasuke informed him, lowering his head and hooding his eyes.

"Why? Why can't I know who I am and have her?" Itachi asked becoming rather agitated.

"I just told you. I'm out for vengeance, remember? I'll find it anyway I can. I tried to kill you once, and I failed. Now I will go even further. If you have someone you care about that makes it even easier."

Itachi stood to his feet ready to fight off this bad vision. "You're not even real. You're in my mind! I don't have to listen to you."

"You can ignore me all you want, but the truth isn't going to go away. I'll kill her." Sasuke said with a grin.

"I'm done with you, little brother." Itachi stated fiercly.

"Fine then, listen to me or don't, it's your choice. But remember that the facts don't change." Sasuke said, standing up from the bed. "It's time for you to wake up anyway."

With one swift movement Sasuke bolted towards Itachi and drove his sword into his side, then stood up straight behind him.

Itachi took in one last breath then dropped to the floor.

"I will find you Nii-san, it's inevitable."

* * *

Did I have you going there for a second? 


	14. Chapter 14

I've been listening to a lot of Gackt lately for some reason. Now Vanilla is stuck in my head. Not a pretty song like the other, but a good song none the less. Anyway, thanks everyone for your comments! Keep 'em coming! Oh and Jinsan, I wish I was a ninja too.

* * *

Chapter 14 

Itachi arranged his things as quietly as he could, not trying to wake Kakashi. He knew that if Kakashi were to wake up, he would surely try to stop him. But the thing was Itachi wasn't leaving to avoid the punishment from his past, but rather to avoid hurting the people he cared about.

The dream he had just had sunk in too easily. He knew now that he couldn't have both lives. He regretted every second of this, every moment he had to spend without her. But this was for the best and he knew it.

Placing a handle on the door Itachi let out a heavy sigh. This was it, there was no turning back now. He had to leave. He had to get out in order to save the one person he truly loved.

As the door opened it creaked, louder than it had ever creaked before. He cringed at the sound and looked back. Just as he suspected the constantly alert ninja he had been sharing a room with was now wide awake and staring at him, his one eye closed.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.

"You can try and stop me, but I doubt you'll be able to." Itachi said, narrowing his eyes on him.

"Are you running from your past now? You were so intent on finding it." Kakashi stated.

"No, I have no reason to run." Itachi argued.

Kakashi stood up from the bed and took two steps forward. "Then why are you leaving?"

"Sasuke will find me eventually. He probably already knows. And in order to protect someone I care about, I have to leave." Itachi explained.

Kakashi closed his eye and shook his head. "This has certainly changed you, Itachi. The man who is known for giving up all ties to anyone that might hold him back is now running in order to save someone."

"I don't know the extent of what I did, but I know it must be more than what's being let on. For my own little brother to despise me the way he does, I must have done something truly horrifying." Itachi stated.

Kakashi nodded. "You did. And Sasuke will never forgive you for it. And you're probably right, Sasuke isn't a child. He's a very strong shinobi, there are only few who will surpass him. He's going to find you."

"Then I have no choice but to leave. When he finds me I don't want to be anywhere near her."

"My job is to bring you back to the village where we can properly punish you, you know that Itachi." Kakashi explained taking another step further.

Itachi immediately changed to a stronger stance and activated his sharingan. "I don't want to fight you, Kakashi-san. If you fight me now you'll just suffer unnecessary injuries."

"You're right. I actually plan to just let you go. My team and I will track you down later, when we're more equipped for it. It's probably better this way." Kakashi said completely relaxing his stance.

Itachi straightened up and deactivated his sharingan. "Good, then that's settled."

"Are you going to say goodbye to her?" Kakashi asked.

"No. She will try to stop me, and she might succeed. She doesn't need to know." Itachi told him rather bluntly.

"That's probably best."

Itachi didn't say anything else. He had nothing else to say. He simply turned and walked out the door, leaving the ninja to find him later on.

Yori awoke the next morning feeling especially unrested. She hadn't felt this sad, this miserable in a very long time. Since the night Shouta had found her with Itachi in their rather intimate embrace things had just been spiraling downwards, progressively getting worse.

Shouta had gotten up before her, which was rather odd. It wasn't that he had woken up first, but rather that she just didn't want to get out of bed. This was extremely rare, considering she was definitely more of a morning person than anyone else in her family. She loved to be up when the dew was still drying on the leaves of the trees and life was beginning to come back for the day.

But today she didn't want to see any of it. She wanted to crawl under a rock and hide there. Her smile that she always displayed had gone missing and she was beginning to think she would never find it again.

She rolled out of bed, feeling groggy, her lack of energy completely overwhelming her. They had a long walk ahead of them today, and she wasn't quite sure how she was going to pull it off. Everything was turning upside down.

"Good morning, Shouta." Yori said tired, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

Shouta didn't respond, still feeling rather irritated by this whole string of events. He simply grunted and continued to pack up his things and get ready to head out.

Yori stood up, staggering a bit until she found her balance, and walked out of the room to head to the bathroom down the hall.

As she passed the other room, she noticed the door was cracked open. Since she was the person she was, it seemed only right to stop in and say good morning to the two men she would be traveling with for the rest of the day.

"Good morning." She announced, not wanting to startle anyone by just barging in.

But there was no response. She slowly pushed the door open, almost sure she would find the room completely empty, but instead was rather surprised by the sight she saw.

"Oh, good morning Yori." Kakashi said, sitting on the window sill.

Yori examined the room, taking in everything in there. On the window was Kakashi, sitting already completely dressed and ready to go. Next to him was a new face, a young blond boy with blue eyes standing leaning against the wall. She recognized him somehow, but couldn't quite place from where.

Across from the young boy, on the other side of Kakashi, was a young girl sitting on the bed. Yori knew immediately where she knew this girl from, because how often to run into a young girl with pink hair?

"Yori, these are my team members, Naruto and Sakura. They're the ones who escorted your father. They only arrived a moment ago." Kakashi explained.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you." Yori said still a little confused. "Where's Itachi-san?"

With those last words the whole group tensed up. Sakura looked down at the ground, obviously trying to hide her reaction. Naruto clenched his fist and his jaw tightened up. As for Kakashi, he remained calm simply letting out a sigh.

"We're not really sure." Kakashi explained

"You're not sure?" Yori asked a little unconvinced. "What, did you lose him or something?"

"He some how got out last night when Kakashi-sensei was asleep." Naruto said agitated.

Kakashi nervously rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes. "Yeah, it seems I'm a very heavy sleeper."

"You're kidding right?" Yori asked feeling a little more convinced now.

"No, unfortunately he's not." Sakura reassured her. "Itachi is really gone."

Yori's heart sank. She had been so cold to him last night, when all he wanted to do was talk to her. She had a feeling this was all her fault. She just knew he left before he thought she no longer wanted him around. She had to find him.

Without saying another word she turned and ran out of the room, ready to find him at all cost.

"Yori!" Kakashi yelled out to her, but of course she didn't stop.

She didn't care that she was in her pajama's, or that she was barefoot, she would run as far as she possibly could just to find him.

As she walked outside she was overwhelmed by the flood of people filling the streets. It was a huge change from last night, where the city had been completely dead. For a moment, and just a moment, she lost her hope. She felt like there was no way she would find him in all this. He had to be long gone for now.

"No, you'll find him!" She said, shaking off the negative feeling.

With those words she began to run through the city, looking for any hint of him. She ran for what seemed like ages, panicked and upset, before she even saw the slightest glimpse of what she thought could be him.

In the distance, at the other edge of town, she could see a glimpse of the same dark hair, the same strong stance, and the same coldness she had seen last night. It had to be him. She couldn't see clearly, but she had to stop him if it was him.

She ran even faster now, hoping she wouldn't miss him. For a second she lost him within the crowd, then found him again. This went on and off every step she took. Then it hit her, the figure wasn't getting farther away, it wasn't walking away from the town. It was coming towards her.

_Why would he come back? _She thought, a rush of emotion coming over her. _Did he change his mind?_

She ran a little further, getting closer and closer to the figure. As it cleared up, and the features became more distinguishable, it became painfully obvious this man was not Itachi.

Stopping in her tracks, her eyes grew wide as the person stood about 100 feet in front of her, just staring at her through the crowd. He looked so much like Itachi, it was frightening. His hair was a little different, his face slightly different, and maybe he was a bit shorter. But everything else was exactly the same, including his dark cold eyes.

The young boy took a few steps forward, getting even closer to Yori. Yori suddenly felt the urge to run, but her legs wouldn't move. This boy looked dangerous, and he was obviously not someone she wanted to mess with.

He was right in front of her now, towering over her, staring down. She looked up into his cool grey eyes and felt panic rush over her. She had to get out of there.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" A welcome young man's voice called out behind her.

Sasuke changed his gaze from Yori to the three ninja standing behind her. "I finished my mission, so I figured I'd come and help with yours."

"You were supposed to stay in the village until we returned." Kakashi reminded him.

"I heard this was an especially difficult mission coming up. I would probably be useful, don't you think?" Sasuke stated rather irritated.

"We have to mission our escort mission first. You should go back to the village until we're done." Kakashi argued with the young boy.

"Sasuke-kun, did you think we couldn't handle it on our own?" Sakura asked, trying to play cute.

"Yes." He stated flatly.

"Sasuke! Don't underestimate me! I can handle…" Naruto yelled out, overzealous as always.

"Shut up, dobe! I doubt you could handle this on your own." Sasuke interrupted rather sharply.

Naruto snarled, clenching his fists. He hated it when Sasuke acted this way. They were completely equals, but Sasuke still acted as if he were superior.

"Sasuke…" Yori finally spoke up, a little confused.

"Oh right…sorry Yori. This is Uchiha Sasuke. He's from our village." Kakashi explained.

"Uchiha…" She said, her eyes going wide.

It made perfect sense. The resemblance was uncanny. No wonder she thought it was Itachi at first. They looked so much a like. They had to be related.

"Then…he's…" She started.

"The Uchiha are a clan from our village. I think I mentioned that when you saw my Sharingan yesterday." Kakashi quickly cut her off.

Yori looked back at the ninja, who had a look of pure concern on his face, only being hidden by a goofy expression. "Right, you did."

"We were a clan in the village. But it's not much of a clan anymore, thanks to a certain man." As he spoke Sasuke looked down at Yori, as if he knew she had feelings for his older brother.

Yori took a step back, suddenly feeling very unnerved about being this close to the young man. She had the feeling he would stop at nothing in order to get to his brother.

"You should go back in and get dressed. We should be heading out soon." Kakashi instructed.

Yori looked down at herself, completely having forgotten that she was still in her pajamas. She nodded and hesitantly turned around and headed back to the hotel.

Once out of earshot the fake calmness of the situation slipped away, being overtaken by a seriousness that was so heavy it was almost tangible.

"How long did you think it would take me to find out?" Sasuke asked getting angrier by the second.

"Find out what, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked smiling.

"Don't patronize me! I know that he's alive!" Sasuke snapped out. "Where is he?"

"We don't know." Naruto said, not even attempting to hide the truth anymore. "He took off last night."

"That girls been harboring him, hasn't she?" Sasuke asked, staring off into the direction Yori had gone.

"Leave her out of this, Sasuke. She just found an injured man and decided to help him. She had no idea who or what he was." Kakashi said, trying to calm down the now very pissed Sasuke.

"If she's a way to find him, then I'll…" he started.

"You stay away from her!" Naruto burst out. "She's just an innocent bystander. She has nothing to do with your revenge!"

Sasuke glared at Naruto, his Sharingan suddenly activating from the sheer anger that was taking him over. "Shut up, you don't know anything. If it weren't for her he would have just died and it would all be over. She got involved the moment she took him in."

"Just stop Sasuke! Just let it go! You got your revenge!" Naruto yelled back.

"My revenge isn't over until he's dead!" Sasuke said rather calmly, ready to fight.

"Stop it you two!" Sakura finally yelled out. "Fighting amongst ourselves will solve absolutely nothing! For now we just have to finish this mission and then we'll worry about him, ok?"

Naruto relaxed and let out an irritated sigh. He couldn't believe how childish Sasuke was being about all this. He was never going to change.

"Fine. I'll go look for him on my own." Sasuke said, releasing his sharingan.

"Sasuke! Did you not just hear me? We need to…" Sakura started yelling at him.

"You have to finish the mission. I have something else I need to do." Sasuke interrupted, then turned from the group.

"You don't even know which way he's gone. You can't track him alone." Kakashi reminded.

"I found him once. I can find him again." Sasuke said, then jumped off leaving the small group.

"Damn it, how did he find out?" Naruto asked annoyed.

"I don't know, but this isn't good. We're going to have to be especially careful now."

* * *

Sasuke: So wait, you're saying I failed to kill him?

Sailorme: Yup, that's exactly what I'm saying!

Sasuke: (Gets angry) Damn it! I must go kill him!

Sailorme: (Smacks him) Oh stop, you stupid emo brat!

Sasuke: (gives her the death stare)

Sailorme: (Grins pleasantly) Oh get over it! Itachi's too cute to hate! And you're just a stupid brat!

Sasuke: (Activates the sharingan)

Sailorme: (pokes him in the eyes)

Sasuke: (Screams out in pain)

Sailorme: Didn't see that coming did you? You stupid emo brat!

Sorry…just had a random thought and thought I'd share. I really don't like Sasuke lol.


	15. Chapter 15

Yay, a new chapter. Sorry it's short and rather uneventful. Oh yeah and sorry it took so long to get up. Long story short, I had finals in paris so writing was definitely not an option, then I was in Venice where I had no internet, then I came home and was working on a flash project. But now I have time, so here it is! Yay! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15 

Yori had quickly gotten dressed and ready and headed back down to the streets, waiting for the rest of the group to catch up. She needed just a moment alone. Nothing was making sense anymore.

The words Sasuke had said swam through her head. What did he mean by his clan wasn't much of a clan anymore thanks to a certain man? Was he referring to Itachi? Did Itachi do something to their clan? She just didn't see how it could be possible.

She had watched Itachi as he slipped into the darkness. She knew he was growing colder, and more brutal, but she still couldn't see how he could hurt his own clan.

At the gates of the town, Yori looked up in the sky, still pondering everything that was going on, when she felt a familiar presence come up to her. Cold, dark, bruting, and yet something else. It had to be, it just had to be. She turned to meet the eyes of whoever it was that was hovering around her, but once again to her dismay it was not who she had expected.

"You want to find him right?" Sasuke asked staring down at her.

Yori was afraid again, but she tried not to show it. She tried to put on a brave face and let this young boy know he was not going to intimidate her.

"Yes." She answered shortly, being the only thing she could say without her voice trembling.

"You'll never find him if you stay with Kakashi and the others. He knows they're after him. He's strong, one of the strongest ninja out there. And he knows how to avoid someone tracking him. Plus with the sharingan he'll see them before they even know he's there." Sasuke explained in a rather dark voice.

"You're his brother right? So then why do you hate him so much?" Yori asked, calming down a little.

"He took away everyone I ever cared about. I lost them all because of him." Sasuke stated flatly.

"So then…that certain man…who some how destroyed your clan…its Itachi…isn't it?" She asked rather dismayed.

"He didn't destroy them…he massacred them." Sasuke corrected her shooting a wicked glare her direction.

Yori gasped and for a moment was in complete disbelief. The Itachi she knew was gentle and didn't want to hurt anyone. But then she thought about the Itachi she had begun to see yesterday. It was almost like something had snapped in his brain. Something wasn't quite right. He didn't care about others. It made her wonder why he had really left.

"I'll find him. And if you come with me, I'll give you the courtesy of saying goodbye to him." Sasuke said as he started to walk off.

"You're planning to kill him aren't you?" Yori asked as she followed him.

"I thought I already had. But thanks to you I have to do it again."

"You're the one who left him alive, you know. The wound was bad, and it would have slowly killed him, but it was not an instantly fatal wound. Maybe…maybe you didn't really want him to die." Yori told him.

Sasuke shot her the most wicked glare he could conjure. "My whole life all I wanted to do is kill that man. Don't go trying to get into my head when you know nothing about me, or the situation!"

Yori once again felt the sheer hate that emanated from this boy. She wasn't going to push anymore, but she was going to follow him. It was her only real chance of finding Itachi.

After minutes of walking, they were now a good distance from the edge of town. Yori was sure Kakashi and Naruto would follow them, knowing that in order to complete their mission successfully they would have to find her. But she was worried about what might happen when they did.

If they found her before she got to Itachi, they would take her back and she would probably never see him again. But if they found her before they got there, the fight between the two siblings will have already started and there was a good chance they might be too late to stop it.

This brought her to another point. She wanted desperately to stop Sasuke, to convince him that his brother was not the man that he knew. But deep down she knew there was just no way of doing that.

But then again, there was a chance now that he was once again that man. Those eyes from last night were so intense, so cold, they frightened her. She wanted nothing more than to be with him, but she knew that if things continued to progress as they were he would no longer be the man she was falling for.

"You seem different from your comrades. It's almost like you're not even from the same village." Yori finally said, breaking the strange silence between the two of them.

"Yeah, I am different." Is all Sasuke responded, obviously not one for casual conversation.

Yori, however, was determined to get a little more into this boys head. He was so young, and yet he acted as if he had seen so much. But that was probably typical of any ninja.

"Why is that?" She asked.

"Because I'm not like the rest of them." He stated simply, giving her a rather general answer.

"Yes I know that. That's what I just said. But why? Why are you so…so angry?" She pressed on.

Sasuke clenched his fists out of frustration. The last he wanted to do was talk to the girl who had saved his brothers life about himself.

"We should pick up the pace, or we'll never find him." He finally answered then started to run.

"uh…wait!" Yori yelled out to him. There was no way she keep up with that pace. After all, she was definitely not a ninja.

She started to run, but was still lagging way behind. Her chest was burning from the lack of oxygen she was taking in. Her heart rate had to be sky rocketing. This definitely could not be good for her. She had never ran this fast for this long in her entire life.

Finally Sasuke stopped, and with a sigh of relief, followed by heaves of breath, Yori stopped and caught up to him.

"I can't…keep…up with…you…if you…run…like that." She said through gasps of breath.

"Quiet." Sasuke barked as he examined the area.

"Did you find a trace of him?" Yori asked in whisper, trying to hold back her excitement.

"Something like that." Sasuke said as he turned to look at her.

Yori's eyes grew wide as she once again felt that fear rush over her. Two deep red eyes stared at her, and as much as she wanted to, she found it impossible to look away. In a matter of seconds she was collapsing to her knees, staring up at the young boy, as the world around her faded to black.The last thing she thought before she lost total consciousness was just how much Sasuke truly resembled his brother, in more ways than one.

* * *

i know I'm making sasuke look like a bad guy..but quite frankly I'm slightly bias as I can't stand the kid! Gah! It made so happy when Itachi beat the snot out of him. I hope it happens again! Anyway...chapter 16 coming soon. 


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